HE 

2791 
.UsUs 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  COMPANY 


OLIVER  AMES,  PRESIDENT. 

THOMAS  €.  DURANT,  VICE-PRESIDENT. 

JOHN  J.  CISCO,  TREASURER. 

CHARLES  TUTTLE,  ASSISTANT  TREASURER. 

HENRY  B.  HAMMOND,  SECRETARY. 


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JESSE  L.  WILLIAMS,  Indiana. 
SAMUEL  McKEE,  Pennsylvania. 
JAMES  S.  ROLLINS,  Missouri. 
JAMES  BROOKS,  New  York. 

TRUSTEES    FOR  THE   BONDHOLDERS. 
HON.  E.  D.  MORGAN,  New  York.  HON.  OAKES  AMES,  Mass. 

GOVERNMENT    POMMISSIONERS. 

MAJ.  WILLIAM  M.  WTHITE,  Connecticut. 
GEN.  FRANK  P.  BLAIR,  Missouri. 
GEN.    N.  B.  BUFORD,  Illinois. 


GEN.  G.  M.  DODGE,  CHIEF  ENGINEER. 

COL.  SILAS  SEYMOUR,  CONSULTING  ENGINEER. 


Hoc. 


ft 


PROGRESS 


WEST   FROM    OMAHA,    NEBRASKA, 


ACROSS   THE   CONTINENT 


MAKING,    WITH    ITS   CONNECTIONS,    AN 


fr0m 


i\t 


EIGHT  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY  MILES  COMPLETED  SEPT.  20,  1868. 


OFFICES,   No,  20  Nassau  St.,  New  York, 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  COMPANY. 

[Pamphlet  Edition,  September  20th,  1868.] 
C.  A.  Alvord,  Printer,  15  Vandewater  Street. 


X 


PAGE. 


INTRODUCTION,    .-  3 

OF  THE       ORK,  4 


CHARACTER^  OF  THE  WORK,                                    -  6 

DIFFICULTIES    OF    CONSTRUCTION,        -  6 

HOW    THE    ROAD    IS    BUILT,                  _____  8 

IS    THE    WORK    WELL    DONE?                  -                 -                 -                 -  1O 


j^ESOUR^CES,                                                                   -  l8 

TIMBER,                        _______  2O 

MINERAL  WEALTH,                                                                -  21 

GOLD  AND  SILVER,       _           -           -           -           -           -  21 

COAL,                    ________  22 

IR^ON,           -                 -                                                      -  22 

MINERAL  SPRINGS,              -           -           -           -           -           _  2<$ 

BR^ANCH   AND   CONNECTING   ROADS,             -  24 

THE     IDAHO,      OREGON     AND      PUGET's     SOUND  -  THE    BF^ANCH 

TO  MONTANA  -  THE    DENVER   AND    THE  CENTRAL    PACIFIC,  24 

RESOURCES   FORN  PONSTRUCTION,                                  -  26 

THE    MEANS    SUFFICIENT    TO    BUILD    THE    R^OAD,        -  28 

^UTURE  BUSINESS   OF   THE    COMPANY,                         -  29 

ITS    SAYING  AND   PROFIT   TO   THE    GOVERNMENT,  52 

THE  ^"AY   BUSINESS  ---  ACTUAL   DARNINGS,   -  34 

JHE  PNION  ^ACIFIC  RAILROAD  POMPANY'S   J^IRST 

^LOP^TGAGE  J30NDS,     -  36 

THEIR  SECURITY  AND  VALUE,           -           _           _           _  36 

PRINCIPAL,  AS  WELL  AS  INTEREST.   PAYABLE  IN  GOLD,       -  36 

AF^E  THE  BONDS  SECURE?     _           -           -           -           -  37 

A  PERMANENT  VALUE,       -        '.'•  «;"-'         -        '  '-           -           -  38 

WHAT  ARE  THEY  WORJH  AS  AN  INVESTMENT?             -  39 


(0 

Bancroft 


BEYOND  the  Missouri  river,  the  American  Union  stretches  for 
almost  two  thousand  miles  to  the  Pacific  ocean.  In  previous 
pamphlets,  we  have  discussed  the  importance  and  the  practicability 
of  constructing  a  railroad  through  this  region,  from  Omaha  on  the 
Missouri  to  San  Francisco  on  the  Pacific.  Such  discussions  are  no 
longer  necessary;  events  have  superseded  argument — facts  have 
taken  the  place  of  theories.  No  one  ever  denied  that  the  road  was 
important,  while  but  few  admitted  that  it  could  be  built,  unless  at 
a  fabulous  cost  of  time  and  money.  The  slow  and  enormously  costly 
routine  of  a  "  public  improvement "  was  not  to  be  thought  of.  For 
obvious  reasons,  the  Government  could  not  do  the  work,  and  pri 
vate  capitalists  would  not ;  and  it  was  only  undertaken  when  the 
interests  of  these  two  parties  were  united.  The  Government  agreed 
to  lend  the  national  credit,  to  the  amount  of  fifty  million  dollars, 
and  it  has  already  saved  far  more  than  the  annual  interest  on  its  loan 
in  the  diminished  cost  of  transporting  its  troops  and  stores.  This 
credit  was  loaned  to  THE  UNION  PACIFIC  RAILROAD  COMPANY, 
building  from  Omaha,  on  the  Missouri  river,  West,  and  to  THE 
CENTRAL  PACIFIC  RAILROAD  COMPANY  of  California,  building 
from  Sacramento,  East,  until  the  two  roads  shall  meet.  The  dis 
tance  from  Omaha  to  Sacramento  is  1721  miles.  More  than  eleven 
hundred  miles  of  the  distance  are  now  traversed  by  a  first-class  rail 
road.  The  Union  Pacific  Company  have  completed  over  800  miles, 
and  the  Central  Pacific  Company  about  325  miles ;  and  the  Union 
Pacific  will  doubtless  have  nearly  if  not  quite  200  miles  more  in 
running  order  this  season.  There  will  then  remain  but  300  or  400 
miles  more  to  be  done  next  year,  and  the  whole  line  will  be  com 
pleted  one  or  two  years  earlier  than  was  promised  by  its  most 
sanguine  friends.  There  is  no  longer  any  doubt  that  the  road  can 
and  will  be  built,  nor  that  it  will  yield  a  remunerative  profit  upon 
the  capital  invested. 


Little  faith  was  at  first  felt  in  the  success  of  the  Pacific  Rail 
road  enterprise,  and  it  was  with  much  difficulty  that  a  sufficient 
subscription  to  the  capital  stock  was  obtained  for  an  effective 
formation  of  the  Company.  The  national  charter  was  granted 
in  July,  1862,  and  a  preliminary  organization  made  in  October, 
1863.  Shortly  after,  the  formal  organization  was  made,  with  a 
board  of  fifteen  Directors,  to  which  five  Government  Directors 
were  added,  according  to  the  stipulations  of  the  acts  of  1862 
and  1864.*  The  authorized  capital  is  One  Hundred  Million 
Dollars,  of  which  $13,243,800  have  been  paid  in  upon  the  work 
already  done.  The  first  contract  for  construction  was  made  in 
August,  1864;  but  various  conflicting  interests,  connected  with  the 
location  of  the  line,  delayed  its  progress,  and  the  first  forty  miles 
were  not  laid  until  January,  1866.  Since  that  time,  the  road  has 
been  built  more  rapidly  than  any  similar  work  in  the  world.  On 
the  first  of  January,  1867,  305  miles  were  finished;  on  the  first  of 
January,  1868,  540  miles;  now  820  miles  are  in  operation,  and  the 
road  is  expected  to  reach  the  vicinity  of  Great  Salt  Lake  by  Christ 
mas.  The  passage  of  the  Eocky  Mountains  has  been  much  more 
easily  accomplished  than  was  supposed  possible  before  Gen.  G.  M. 
DODGE,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Union  Pacific  Eoad,  surveyed  the 
route  and  found  how  completely  nature  had  prepared  the  way  for 
the  locomotive.  In  crossing  the  mountains  there  are  no  grades 
exceeding  90  feet  to  the  mile,  and  these  extend  for  but  short 
distances,  while  an  altitude  of  more  than  six  thousand  feet  is  at 
tained  by  an  ascent  so  gradual  as  to  be  entirely  imperceptible  to  the 
traveler. 

*  The  various  Congressional  Acts  and  their  amendments  are  too  long  to  be  recited  here, 
but  copies  will  be  furnished  free  on  application  in  person,  or  by  mail,  at  the  Company's  offices, 
No.  20  Nassau  Street,  New  York. 


The  following  table  shows  the  distance  from  the  eastern  termi 
nus  of  the  road  to  the  prominent  points  along  the  line,  with  their 
elevation  above  the  sea  level : 


DISTANCE                       ELEVATION 

STATION. 

FROM    OMAHA.          ABOVE   THE   SEA. 

Omaha,    .            .            .            . 

—  miles. 

967  feet. 

Fremont,       ..... 

46 

1,215 

Columbus,           ..... 

91 

1,455 

Kearney,                    .... 

190 

2,128 

North  Platte,      

290 

2,830 

Julesburg,     ..... 
Cheyenne,           .                                   . 
Sherman,  Summit  of  Black  Hills, 

377 
517 
550 

3,557 
6,062 

8,262 

Laramie,  ..... 

576 

7,134 

Benton,          ..... 

690 

7,534 

Green  River,        ..... 

820 

6,092 

Fort  Bridger,            .... 

845 

7,009 

Weber  Canon,     ... 

995 

4,654 

Huraboldt  Wells,      .... 

1,218 

5,650 

Humboldt  Lake,             .... 

1,493 

4,047 

Big-  Bend  Truckee,  .... 

1,534 

4,217 

Truckee  River,   ..... 

1,60X5 

5,866 

Summit  of  Sierras,  . 

1,616 

7,042 

Cisco,       ...... 

1,624 

5,711 

Alta,  ...... 

1,652 

3,625 

Colfax,     

1,667 

'  2,448 

Sacramento,              .... 

1,721 

56 

Stockton,             ..... 

1,766 

22 

San  Francisco,          .... 

1,845 

Parties  have  sometimes  expressed  a  fear,  that  a  railroad  con 
structed  so  rapidly  as  the  Union  Pacific,  must  be  imperfect ;  and 
others,  from  various  unworthy  motives,  have  endeavored  to  dis 
parage  a  work  whose  risks  they  were  unwilling  to  share.  The 
Union  Pacific  Eailroad  is  built  rapidly  because  twenty  thousand 
men  are  at  work  upon  it ;  because  care  has  been  taken  to  provide 
all  necessary  materials,  and  have  them  where  they  are  wanted  when 
they  are  wanted,  and  because  there  are  abundant  means  at  all  times 
in  the  treasury  to  pay  the  cost.  The  road  is  examined  in  twenty- 
mile  sections  by  sworn  Commissioners  of  the  Government,  who  do 
not  accept  it  unless  it  comes  up  to  the  standard  of  a  first-class  road 
in  every  respect. 

A  party  of  gentlemen  connected  with  the  leading  daily  press 
have  recently  returned  from  a  trip  along  the  line,  and  we  surrender 
a  considerable  portion  of  our  space  to  their  graphic  descriptions. 
They  were  invited  to  describe  everything  exactly  as  they  found  it, 
and  to  draw  their  conclusions  from  their  own  observations. 


DIFFICULTIES    OF   CONSTRUCTION. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  when  the  building  of  this  road 
was  begun  at  Omaha,  that  place  had  no  railroad  connections  with 
the  east,  and  hence  all  materials  to  be  used  in  the  construction  of 
the  new  road  could  only  be  obtained  at  great  disadvantage  and  extra 
cost.  Concerning  the  difficulties  which  had  then  to  be  overcome, 
the  correspondent  of  the  Boston  Journal  says : 

"  The  Company  commenced  operations  at  Omaha,  then  a  small  town,  destitute  alike 
of  the  skill  necessary  for  the  practical  construction  of  such  a  public  work,  and  desti 
tute  even  of  the  mere  manual  force  necessary.  Mechanics  were  needed,  laborers 
were  needed  ;  if  they  were  summoned  from  abroad,  boarding  places  must  be  found, 
and  some  kind  of  homes  extemporized.  There  were  no  shops  in  which  and  no  tools 
with  which  to  labor.  Shovels,  spades,  picks,  plows,  axes  and  other  implements  were 


to  be  purchased  in  Chicago,  Buffalo,  Boston,  New  York  or  Philadelphia,  wherever 
they  could  be  found  best  in  quality  and  cheapest  in  price,  and  transported  to  this  new 
point  of  departure.  And  here  again  was  another  obstacle  to  be  contended  with,  for  as 
yet  no  rail  track  had  been  laid  nearer  than  about  150  miles  of  the  east  bank  of  the  Mis 
souri  river.  Over  this  distance,  therefore,  all  men  and  materials  had  to  be  transported 
by  the  slow  and  expensive  process  of  wagon  trains.  The  engine  of  70  horse  power,  now 
propelling  the  Company's  works  at  Omaha,  was  thus  carried  in  wagons  from  DesMoines, 
on  the  river  of  that  name,  that  at  the  time  being  the  only  available  means  of  getting 
it  through.  Again,  west  of  the  Missouri  river  the  country  is  almost  entirely  desti 
tute  of  trees,  and  excepting  a  limited  supply  of  cottonwood,  similar  in  fibre  and 
strength  to  the  old  Lombardy  poplar  of  the  east,  there  was  nothing  from  which  rail 
road  ties  could  be  obtained.  East  of  the  Missouri  the  forest  conditions  were  quite 
similar,  so  that  in  a  short  time  it  came  to  pass  that  the  very  ties  on  which  the  rail 
road  has  been  constructed  had  to  be  cut  in  Michigan,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York,  and  teamed  over  the  country  at  an  expense  sometimes  of  two  dollars  and  sev 
enty-five  cents  per  tie.  Then  it  should  be  added  that  the  supplies  necessary  for  the 
support,  clothing  and  maintenance  of  the  laborers  were  also  to  be  purchased  far  east 
and  transported  as  before.  In  less  than  a  year  these  difficulties  were  confronted  and 
conquered,  and  the  great  work  begun  in  serious  earnest." 

And  the  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Evening  Post  says  up 
on  the  same  subject : 

"The  great  obstacles  were,  first,  the  fact  that  everything  necessary  to  building  the 
road  must  be  brought  from  the  east.  There  was  no  railroad  for  nearly  two  hundred 
miles  from  the  Missouri  river,  and  that  river  itself  formed  a  barrier  to  overcome 
which  would  cost  often  as  much  as  it  would  cost  to  carry  materials  hundreds  of  miles 
in  the  east.  Every  stick  of  timber,  every  spike  and  rail,  had  to  be  wagoned  for  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  miles.  It  cost  more  to  transport  the  spikes,  chairs,  &c., 
than  they  originally  cost  at  the  foundry  before  the  war.  The  cost  of  some  of  the  pine 
timber  used  was  $275  a  thousand  feet.  The  ties  for  the  first  three  hundred  miles 
cost  $2  each.  The  engine  used  now  in  the  machine  shops  was  hauled  by  mules  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  miles.  There  were  no  workmen — all  had  to  be  sent  from 
the  eastern  cities ;  labor  cost  from  50  to  150  per  cent,  more  than  in  the  east.  Missouri 
coal  cost  at  the  levee  $11  per  ton.  Wood  cost  from  $3  to  $14  a  cord,  according  to 
locality.  Such  was  the  lack  of  confidence  in  the  enterprise,  that  at  first  tLe  Company 
could  get  no  responsible  persons  to  take  contracts  for  building  the  road.  After  the 
railroad  was  finished  to  Council  Bluffs,  and  the  great  delay  and  expense  of  wagoning 
was  at  an  end,  the  river  rose  so  that  they  were  compelled  to  go  up  some  eight  miles, 
and  a  four-mule  team  could  only  drag  three  rails.  With  all  this,  for  days  they  em 
ployed  a  hundred  teams,  and  took  over  rails  for  a  mile  of  road  a  day — one  hundred 
tons  of  rails  to  the  mile.  The  first  great  necessity— the  one  thing  on  which  the  ulti 
mate  success  of  this  road  depended — was  the  vigor  and  rapidity  with  which  it  should 
be  pushed.  Until  it  was  evident  that  they  had  got  too  far  in  the  desert  to  come  back, 
there  was  no  certainty  that  there  was  a  bona  fide  intent  to  build  the  road  to  the  Pa 
cific.  Till  this  was  settled  no  assistance  could  be  had  from  the  public.  Government 
might  authorize  them  to  issue  bonds,  but  until  the  public  would  buy  them  there  was 
no  assistance.  The  men  who  undertook  the  task  were  equal  to  it ;  they  saw  that 
rapid  work  was  the  first  essential.  There  was  no  stone  for  hundreds  of  miles  ;  there 
was  no  wood  for  ties  except  cottonwood,  so  they  made  their  culverts  of  wood,  and 
treated  the  cottonwood  ties  by  Burnetizing,  making  them,  it  is  claimed,  as  durable  as 
other  wood  not  so  treated,  and  pushed  on  their  road.  When  the  railroad  from  the 
east  came  to  the  river,  they  no  longer  used  cottonwood  ties,  but  contracted  for  oak 
from  the  east.  All  this  time  they  were  pushing  ahead  into  a  hostile  Indian  country ; 


the  surveyors  and  engineers  were  attacked  or  killed,  the  working  parties  harrassed, 
and  the  subsistence  of  the  working  parties  had  to  be  wagoned  to  them.  The  en 
gineers  and  graders  kept  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  miles  in  advance  of  the  track 
layers.  The  bridges  are  all  contracted  for,  built  in  Chicago,  brought  to  the  end  of 
the  track,  and  carried  in  teams  beyond  and  set  up,  so  as  to  cause  no  delay  in  laying 
the  track.  It  is  this  constant  prevision,  this  providing  for  everything  months  and 
miles  beforehand,  which  demonstrates  the  genius  of  those  who  direct  this  great  work, 
and  enables  them  to  push  on  the  conclusion  so  rapidly.  It  is  a  knowledge  of  this 
fact  that  has  removed  the  doubt  as  to  the  durability  of  the  road,  based  on  its  rapid 
construction ;  hundreds  of  laborers  and  months  of  work  have  preceded  the  little  band 
of  lightning  track-layers  who  are  throwing  their  iron  filaments  across  the  continent." 


HOW  THE   ROAD   IS   BUILT. 

The  building  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  with  the  extraordi 
nary  rapidity  which  has  characterized  the  work,  has  been  so  contrary 
to  all  previously  received  opinions  respecting  railroad  construction, 
that  those  who  have  not  themselves  examined  the  process  can  have  no 
adequate  idea  of  its  magnitude.  In  January,  1866,  40  miles  had  been 
built;  in  January,  1867,  305  miles  were  in  operation;  in  January, 
1868,  540  miles  were  finished,  and  on  the  20th  of  Sept.,  1868,  820 
miles  were  complete,  and  the  track-laying  is  steadily  progressing  at 
the  rate  of  three  or  four  miles  per  day.  The  completed  railroad  will 
reach  the  vicinity  of  Great  Salt  Lake  by  the  end  of  this  year,  and  by 
the  national  anniversary  of  1869,  the  Union  Pacific  and  the  Central 
Pacific  will  have  met  at  some  point  from  one  hundred  to  two  hun 
dred  miles  west  of  Salt  Lake,  and  railroad  communication  between 
the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  will  be  an  accomplished  fact.  No  such 
marvelous  work  could  be  done  without  the  most  perfect  system  of 
organization,  combined  with  tremendous  energy.  Of  this  semi- 
military  organization  the  editor  of  the  Baltimore  American  writes 
from  the  end  of  the  track: 

"  The  scene  did  not  disappoint  any  of  the  imaginings  created  by  what  had  been  told 
us.  We  found  here  an  army  of  men,  systematized  and  drilled  to  perfection,  living 
hi  boarding  cars  that  each  day  advanced  over  the  newly  laid  rails  to  the  very  spot  of 
their  labors,  supplied  with  regularity  with  all  the  means  of  subsistence,  and  finding 
always  ready  for  them  the  material  of  construction  by  which  their  work  is  advanced 
toward  completion. 

"As  the  great  idea  of  a  railroad  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  came  to  fruition 
during  the  throes  of  rebellion,  so  also  to  the  men  who  conquered  that  rebellion  is  its 
rapid  realization  to  be  ascribed.  Without  the  men  who  fought  in  the  ranks  of  our 
army,  it  is  to  be  doubted  whether  this  great  enterprise  could  have  been  a  success. 
Nine  out  of  every  ten  of  the  men  who  are  now  working  on  the  line  of  this  railroad 
have  been  in  the  army,  and  from  there  have  brought  the  habits  of  discipline,  the  tem 
per  of  hardy  reliance  and  the  love  of  an  adventurous  open  air  life  which  has  made 
them  the  best  railroad  builders  in  the  world.  One  can  see  all  along  the  line  of  the 
now  completed  road  the  evidences  of  ingenious  self-protection  and  defence  which  our 


men  learned  during  the  war.  The  same  curious  huts  and  underground  dwellings 
which  were  a  common  sight  along  our  army  lines  then,  may  now  be  seen  burrowed 
into  the  sides  of  the  hills  or  built  up  with  ready  adaptability  in  sheltered  spots.  The 
whole  organization  of  the  force  engaged  in  the  construction  of  the  road  is,  in  fact, 
semi-military.  The  men  who  go  ahead,  locating  the  road,  are  the  advanced  guard. 
Following  these  is  the  second  line,  cutting  through  the  gorges,  grading  the  road  and 
building  bridges.  Then  comes  the  main  line  of  the  army,  placing  the  sleepers,  laying 
the  track,  spiking  down  the  rails,  perfecting  the  alignment,  ballasting  the  rail,  and 
dressing  up  and  completing  the  road  for  immediate  use.  This  army  of  workers  has 
its  base,  to  continue  the  figure,  at  Omaha,  Chicago,  and  still  further  eastward,  from 
whose  markets  are  collected  the  material  for  constructing  the  road.  Along  the  line 
of  the  completed  road  are  construction  trains  constantly  pushing  forward  '  to  the 
front'  with  supplies.  The  Company's  grounds  and  workshops  at  Omaha  are  the 
arsenal,  where  these  purchases,  amounting  now  to  millions  of  dollars  in  value,  are 
collected  and  held  ready  to  be  sent  forward." 

The  laying  of  the  rails  upon  this  ever-advancing  railway  is  a 
constant  marvel,  and  a  scene  of  fascinating  interest.  The  descrip 
tion  which  we  quote  is  from  the  editor  of  the  Philadelphia  Bulletin. 
He  writes : 

"  We  were  soon  off  from  Benton  to  the  end  of  the  track.  It  was  a  beautiful  morn 
ing,  and  presently  we  all  doffed  our  hats  respectfully  to  the  Seven  Hundred  Mile  post 
on  the  U.  P.  R.  R.  Ten  miles  further,  and  we  are  brought  to  a  halt  by  the  construc 
tion  and  boarding  trains  at  the  end  of  the  road.  The  advanced  limit  of  the  rail  is 
occupied  by  a  train  of  long  box  cars,  with  hammocks  swung  under  them,  beds  spread 
on  top  of  them,  bunks  built  within  them,  in  which  the  sturdy,  broad-shouldered  pio 
neers  of  the  great  iron  highway  sleep  at  night,  and  take  their  meals.  Close  behind  this 
train  come  loads  of  ties  and  rails  and  spikes,  &c.,  which  are  being  thundered  off  upon 
the  roadside  to  be  ready  for  the  track-layers.  The  road  is  graded  a  hundred  miles  in 
advance.  The  ties  are  laid  roughly  in  place,  then  adjusted,  gauged  and  leveled.  Then 
the  track  is  laid. 

"  Track-laying  on  the  Union  Pacific  is  a  science,  and  we,  pundits  of  the  Far  East, 
stood  upon  that  embankment,  only  about  a  thousand  miles  this  side  of  sunset,  and 
backed  westward  before  that  hurrying  corps  of  sturdy  operatives  with  a  mingled  feel 
ing  of  amusement,  curiosity  and  profound  respect.  On  they  came.  A  light  car, 
drawn  by  a  single  horse,  gallops  up  to  the  front  with  its  load  of  rails.  Two  men  seize 
the  end  of  a  rail  and  start  forward,  the  rest  of  the  gang  taking  hold  by  twos,  until  it  is 
clear  of  the  car.  They  come  forward  at  a  run.  At  the  word  of  command  the  rail  is 
dropped  in  its  place,  right  side  up  with  care,  while  the  same  process  goes  on  at  the 
other  side  of  the  car.  Less  then  thirty  seconds  to  a  rail  for  each  gang,  and  so  four 
rails  go  down  to  the  minute !  Quick  work,  you  say,  but  the  fellows  on  the  U.  P.  are 
tremendously  in  earnest.  The  moment  the  car  is  empty  it  is  tipped  over  on  the  side 
of  the  track  to  let  the  next  loaded  car  pass  it,  and  then  it  is  tipped  back  again,  and  it 
is  a  sight  to  see  it  go  flying  back  for  another  load,  propelled  by  a  horse  at  full  gallop 
at  the  end  of  sixty  or  eighty  feet  of  rope,  ridden  by  a  young  Jehu,  who  drives  furi 
ously.  Close  behind  the  first  gang  come  the  gaugers,  spikers  and  bolters,  and  a  lively 
time  they  make  of  it.  It  is  a  grand  Anvil  Chorus  that  those  sturdy  sledges  are  playing 
across  the  plains.  It  is  in  triple  time,  three  strokes  to  a  spike.  There  are  ten 
spikes  to  a  rail,  four  hundred  rails  to  a  mile,  eighteen  hundred  miles  to  San  Francisco. 
That's  the  sum,  what  is  the  quotient?  Twenty-one  million  times  are  those  sledges 
to  be  swung — twenty-one  million  times  are  they  to  come  down  with  their  sharp  punc 
tuation,  before  the  great  work  of  modern  America  is  complete  ! 


10 

"  On  they  go.  Fifteen  minutes  from  the  moment  that  the  rail  is  dropped  upon 
the  track,  it  is  adjusted,  spiked,  bolted  to  its  predecessor  with  the  'fish-plate,'  (there 
are  no  '  chairs '  used,)  and  ready  for  the  advancing  train.  It  was  worth  the  dust,  the 
heat,  the  cinders,  the  hurrying  ride,  day  and  night,  the  fatigue  and  the  exposure,  to 
see  with  one's  own  eyes  this  second  grand  'March  to  the  Sea.'  Sherman,  with  his 
victorious  legions,  sweeping  from  Atlanta  to  Savannah,  was  a  spectacle  less  glorious 
than  this  army  of  men,  marching  on  foot  from  Omaha  to  Sacramento,  subduing  un 
known  wildernesses,  scaling  unknown  mountains,  surmounting  untried  obstacles, 
and  binding  across  the  broad  breast  of  America  the  iron  emblem  of  modern  progress 
and  civilization.  All  honor,  not  only  to  the  brains  that  have  conceived,  but  to  the 
indomitable  wills,  the  brave  hearts  and  the  brawny  muscles  that  are  actually  achieving 
the  great  work !" 

IS  THE  WORK  WELL   DONE? 

This  is  a  point  of  the  highest  importance.  The  unprecedented 
speed  with  which  the  road  is  being  built  is  a  matter  of  astonishment 
to  every  beholder ;  its  solidity,  permanence,  and  safety  are  questions 
in  which  every  financier,  and  indee.d  every  American  citizen  is  di 
rectly  interested.  The  large  grants  made  by  government  in  aid  of 
the  Union  Pacific  Kailroad  make  it  so  peculiarly  a  national  work 
that  the  finished  road  will  be  our  national  pride  or  humiliation, 
according  to  its  character.  But  to  the  emigrant,  the  miner,  and 
the  investor  in  the  Company's  bonds,  the  question  is  more  practical. 
Is  the  road  so  built  that  it  will  transport  the  vast  products  which 
will  ere  long  be  developed  along  its  line  ?  Is  it  so  strongly  and 
carefully  built  that  it  will  secure  and  keep  the  tide  of  travel  to  and 
from  the  Pacific  coast?  Has  such  skill  in  engineering  and  con 
struction  been  employed  that  a  small  percentage  of  its  earnings  will 
keep  it  in  prime  condition,  or  will  its  receipts  be  swallowed  up  in 
constant  and  heavy  repairs  and  renovations  ?  These  are  points  to 
which  the  especial  attention  of  the  recent  editorial  party  was  direct 
ed,  and  every  possible  facility  given  its  members  for  forming  an 
intelligent  opinion.  What  that  opinion  was,  after  examination,  may 
be  seen  by  the  quotations  below. 

Hon.  CHARLES  A.  DANA,  late  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  and 
now  editor  of  the  New  York  Sun,  says : 

"A  party  of  thirty  gentlemen  have  just  returned  from  an  excursion  to  the 
present  terminus  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  at  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Their 
unanimous  opinion  is  that  the  road  is  constructed  in  the  most  thorough  and  solid 
manner,  and  that  it  is  superior  in  firmness,  smoothness,  and  capacity  for  rapid  run 
ning,  to  any  other  new  road  which  they  have  ever  seen.  This  is  true  of  the  parts  of 
the  track  which  were  laid  only  the  day  before  the  excursion  train  passed  over  them,  as 
well  as  those  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  line  which  have  been  in  use  for  some  two  years. 


11 

The  work  is  well  done,  both  as  respects  the  judgment  with  which  it  is  laid  out,  and 
the  thoroughness  of  its  construction  ;  and  there  is  no  part  of  it  which  could,  under 
the  circumstances,  be  better  than  it  is ;  all  reports  to  the  contrary  are  erroneous  and 
mistaken." 

He  also  says : 

"The  examination  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  was  thorough.  The  train  was 
stopped  at  every  important  point,  and  nothing  was  anywhere  hidden  from  observa 
tion.  The  universal  opinion  was  that  a  more  solid,  useful  and  satisfactory  railroad 
than  the  Union  Pacific  has  never  been  constructed  in  this  country." 

The  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune  writes : 

"  The  astonishing  rapidity  with  which  this  railroad  has  been  built  has  become  the 
subject  of  general  wonder  throughout  the  country.  Nothing  like  it  has  been  seen 
before.  Two  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles  were  built  in  1867,  and  the  track-layers 
are  to-day  more  than  200  miles  in  advance  of  their  starting  point  in  April  last.  Can 
a  road  built  with  such  tremendous  speed,  and  that,  too,  in  a  district  where  every  tool, 
every  laborer,  every  appliance  to  aid  in  the  work,  has  to  be  brought  hundreds  of  miles 
from  the  eastern  manufactory,  be  well  built?  This  is  a  vital  question,  and  one  upon 
which  the  people  want  the  most  unequivocal  information.  I  have  seen  and  examined 
more  than  700  miles  of  this  road,  and  1  believe  it  thoroughly  built  and  fully  equipped. 
For  500  miles  the  grades  are  exceedingly  light,  and  the  direction  an  air  line.  There 
the  road  was  easily  built,  but  nowhere  indifferently  or  slovenly.  The  embankments 
are  high  enough  to  secure  good  drainage,  and  wide  enough  to  make  a  solid  founda 
tion;  2,650  ties  are  laid  to  the  mile  (the  average  on  eastern  roads  is  1,700);  the  rails 
are  joined  by  fish-plates,  making  a  'contin  ous  rail;'  the  water  courses  are  spanned 
by  substantial  Howe  truss  bridges,  or  by  culverts  of  timber,  which  is  to  be  at  once 
replaced  by  solid  masonry,  although  the  timber  is  good  for  at  least  ten  years'  wear. 
The  road  bed  is  being  ballasted  with  broken  stone  and  disintegrated  granite,  which  is 
excavated  in  the  passage  of  the  Black  Hills,  and  which  makes  as  fine  ballasting  mate 
rial  as  there  is  in  the  world.  The  road  is  remarkably  smooth.  On  the  return  trip, 
the  run  from  Cheyenne  to  Omaha  was  at  an  average  rate  of  34  miles  and  a  fraction  per 
hour,  and  we  ran  55  miles  in  one  hour.  In  short,  the  road  shows  less  signs  of  newness 
than  nine  out  of  ten  new  roads  at  the  East,  and  is,  so  far  as  an  intelligent  observer 
can  judge,  a  well-built,  well-equipped,  and  well-managed  railroad." 

The  correspondent  of  the  Scientific  American  gives  this  testi 
mony : 

"In  regard  to  the  road  itself,  the  opinion  of  the  editor  of  the  Sun  (quoted  above) 
expresses  just  what  we  all  felt  after  thorough  examination.  On  our  return,  we  made 
the  run  from  North  Platte  to  Omaha,  a  distance  of  290  miles,  at  an  average  rate  of 
over  34  miles  an  hour,  and  ran  55  miles  in  one  hour.  No  railroad  officer  in  the  coun 
try  would  dare  do  that,  or  suffer  it  to  be  done  upon  his  road,  if  the  latter  were  not 
in  splendid  condition.  This  portion  of  our  trip  was  made  with  as  much  comfort  as 
any  other  part  of  the  whole  run  from  New  York  to  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  and  I 
claim  that  this  one  fact  will  convince  any  candid  man  that  it  is  a  gross  libel  to  speak 
of  the  'absolutely  unsafe  manner  in  which  the  road  is  constructed.'  Here  are  some 
of  the  details  of  construction:  the  iron  is  of  the  very  best  American  manufacture; 
the  ties  number  2,650  to  the  mile  (the  average  upon  the  railroads  of  the  country  is 
about  1,700);  the  rails  are  all  joined  by  'fish-plates,'  of  a  pattern  approved  by  the 
best  railroad  engineers;  the  road  is  being  ballasted  with  broken  stone  brought  from 


12 

the  Black  Hills ;  the  culverts  are  now  built  of  substantial  timber,  which  would  be 
good  for  ten  years'  wear,  but  the  contract  is  already  made  for  replacing  them  with 
heavy  dressed  masonry.  The  equipment  of  the  road  is  superb.  The  locomotives  are 
of  the  best  Taunton,  Providence,  Trenton  and  Paterson  make,  while  the  freight  and 
passenger  cars,  which  are  turned  out  at  the  Company's  own  magnificently  appointed 
shops  at  Omaha,  are  equal  in  every  respect  to  any  that  I  have  seen  in  the  course  of 
many  years  active  traveling." 

The  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Express  says : 

"Figures  will  not  convey,  language  cannot  adequately  describe  the  magnitude  of 
the  undertaking  which  is  now  being  carried  on  in  this  far  western  region.  Actual 
observation  alone  can  serve  to  thoroughly  convince  the  unbeliever  of  the  vigor,  the 
unflinching  industry,  which  is  being  exhibited  in  the  construction  of  this  marvelous 
road ;  and,  what  is  more,  constructing  it  well.  Firm,  solid,  substantial,  we  have  here 
as  fine  a  track  as  can  be  found  on  almost  any  road  in  the  country,  while  the  traveling 
accommodations  are  full  of  ease  and  comfort." 

The  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Times  writes : 

"  The  Union  Pacific  Railroad  is  built  and  equipped  in  the  very  best  manner,  at  least 
as  far  as  we  have  traveled  over  it,  and  we  have  thoroughly  examined  it  at  various 
points.  *  *  *  The  first-class  cars,  manufactured  at  Omaha,  are  equal  to  any  cars 
to  be  found  on  any  of  the  eastern  railroads,  and  indeed  the  whole  rolling  stock  of  the 
Company  will  compare  with  that  of  any  other  railroad  in  the  country." 

The  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Evening  Mail  sums  up  his 
report  of  the  trip  in  these  words : 

"  We  went  out,  of  many  minds.  But  we  went  to  examine  for  ourselves  a  great 
national  work,  of  which  we  had  heard  and  read  all  sorts  of  stories.  We  came  back, 
of  one  mind.  Our  independent  judgments  had  molded  themselves  into  one  unani 
mous  verdict,  a  conviction  which  grew  out  of  a  rigid  scrutiny  and  a  practical  test. 
The  Union  Pacific  Railroad  is  a  grand  national  success.  In  its  inception,  in  the 
magical  swiftness  of  its  construction,  in  the  substantial  durability  of  the  work,  in 
the  vigorous  administration  of  every  department  of  its  affairs,  in  the  great  results 
which  it  is  already  accomplishing  for  our  western  world,  it  challenges  the  admiration 
and  cordial  support  of  every  one  who  takes  an  honest  pride  in  the  success  of  a  grand 
American  enterprise.  There  is  nothing  superficial  about  it — no  veneer,  no  pinch 
beck,  no  sham  of  any  sort.  '  And  so  say  we  all.' " 

The  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Observer  says  of  the  road 
at  the  summit  of  the  Black  Hills : 

"  We  were  far  up  among  the  clouds,  more  than  a  mile  and  a  half  above  ocean  level, 
and  yet  riding  upon  a  railroad  as  firmly  and  as  beautifully  built  as  any  road  in  our 
country.  The  track  had  been  very  straight  across  the  plains,  occasionally  diverging 
to  the  right  or  to  the  left.  But  across  the  mountains  it  is  not  an  air  line.  It  makes 
a  curve,  or  a  detour,  here  and  there,  to  avoid  a  cliff,  or  gain  a  plateau.  But  at  every 
point  of  real  difficulty  to  be  overcome,  the  wisdom  of  the  survey  and  the  exact  prac 
tical  skill  of  the  engineer  are  strikingly  conspicuous." 

The  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Christian  Advocate  says : 

"  Built  with  such  wonderful  rapidity,  under  difficulties  that  would  overwhelm  the 
minds  of  ordinary  men,  can  this  be,  is  it,  a  well  built,  safe,  and  thoroughly  equipped  rail- 


13 

road?  This  is  just  what  your  readers  and  the  general  public  desire  to  know.  To 
determine  this  question  by  a  critical  inspection  and  observation  of  the  entire  work, 
was  the  leading  motive  that  led  us  into  the  Editorial  Excursion  Party  over  the  Rocky 
Mountains  via  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  And  whatever  may  have  been  our  pre 
vious  notions  of  this  work,  candor  compels  us  to  say,  that  to  the  extent  of  its  com 
pletion,  this  road,  with  its  entire  outfit  and  appurtenances,  is  in  every  respect  a  first- 
class  railroad." 

The  editor  of  the  Boston  Transcript  says  of  the  condition  of 
the  road : 

"  Has  the  road  been  poorly  built  as  a  speculation,  and  to  obtain  the  grants  of  land 
and  money,  as  has  been  often  insinuated  or  roundly  asserted  by  its  enemies  and  those 
ignorant  of  the  truth  ?  No ;  most  emphatically,  no.  The  Union  Pacific  is  a  first- 
class  road ;  finely  graded,  thoroughly  tied,  well  ironed  and  ballasted,  and  substan 
tially  bridged.  In  short,  and  without  going  into  details  and  without  fear  of  contra 
diction  by  any  who  have  traveled  over  and  carefully  observed  it,  it  may  be  distinctly 
affirmed,  that  the  Union  Pacific  will  compare  favorably  with  many  of  the  best  roads  in 
the  country.  This  statement,  I  think,  would  be  substantially  if  not  wholly  indorsed 
by  the  impartial  witnesses  that  comprised  our  excursion  party.  Large  portions  of  the 
track  have  been  tested  during  a  severe  winter ;  and  as  I  have  before  written  you,  we 
rushed  smoothly  and  safely  along,  always  at  high  speed,  and  sometimes  at  the  rate 
of  over  fifty  miles  an  hour.  This  certainly  subjected  the  structure  to  a  severe  trial 
of  its  solidity. 

"If  any  of  your  readers  think  I  have  overpraised  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  and 
overstated  its  importance  as  the  greatest  work  of  the  age,  in  view  of  its  worth  as  an 
instrumentality  of  trade  and  commerce  and  as  an  agent  of  peaceful  civilization,  let 
them  go  and  see  it  for  themselves,  or,  if  they  cannot  do  that,  let  them  seek  authentic 
information  and  listen  to  impartial  testimony,  and  they  can  soon  convince  themselves 
that  I  have  hardly  hinted  at  half  the  truth." 

The  correspondent  of  the  Boston  Journal  writes : 

"  Seven  hundred  and  twelve  miles  of  this  great  thoroughfare  I  have  carefully  ob 
served  in  all  its  aspects,  as  respects  material,  grading,  road-bed,  ballasting,  construc 
tion,  <fec.,  and  the  result  of  my  unbiased  judgment  is  a  full  justification  of  the  action 
of  the  United  States  Commissioners,  Maj.  WILLIAM  M.  WHITE,  Gen.  FRANK  P.  BLAIR 
and  Gen.  N.  B.  BUFORD,  accepting  the  same  as  in  all  respects  a  first-class  road.  It  is 
built  in  a  thorough  and  substantial  manner,  and  an  evener,  firmer  bed  under  the  tread 
of  the  heavy  train  will  seldom  be  found.  Time  will,  of  course,  give  it  additional 
solidity." 

The  editor  of  the  Boston  Traveller  says : 

"It  is  built  in  the  best  and  most  substantial  manner  possible,  and  will  compare 
favorably  with  any  other  road  in  the  United  States.  For  a  new  road,  I  do  not  remem 
ber  ever  having  traveled  on  its  superior.  *  *  The  road  is  well  ballasted,  and  except 
in  seasons  of  extreme  drought,  must  be  comparatively  free  from  dust.  *  *  Few 
of  the  old  roads  of  the  country  are  so  easy  to  ride  over  as  this  new  one." 

The  correspondent  of  the  Boston  Advertiser  writes  from  Omaha : 

"  I  shall  frankly  admit  that  although  familiar  with  the  west,  this  trip  has  removed 
certain  cobwebs  from  my  mind  which  decorate  every  Boston  intellect.  I  concede, 
for  example,  that  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  is  the  greatest  wonder  of  America. 


14 

There  has  been  nothing  more  marvellous  or  more  admirable,  both  in  boldness  of  con 
ception  and  brilliancy  of  execution,  since  the  Great  Eastern  steamed  away  from  Ire 
land  with  the  cable  in  her  hold  and  landed  it  in  safety  at  Heart's  Content.  People 
talk  of  it  as  a  selfish  speculation,  and  of  course  it  is,  and  ought  to  be ;  for  men  who 
have  dared  to  carry  through  so  magnificent  an  enterprise  should  receive  a  magnificent 
reward.  Yet,  as  the  war  for  the  Union  was  largely  a  selfish  struggle,  but  would  have 
failed  if  it  had  not  aroused  the  enthusiasm  and  the  nobler  attributes  of  the  people,  so 
this  great  undertaking,  also,  has  its  heroes  and  its  roll  of  martyrs.  The  SHERMAN  of 
the  road  is  THOMAS  C.  DURANT,  of  New  York,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  cut  from  his 
base  when  the  good  of  the  enterprise  required  it,  and  who  dashed  into  the  valley  with 
a  Sheridan-like  velocity  which  utterly  amazed  the  cautious  and  redtapey  intellects  in 
the  east,  but  which  was  amply  justified  by  the  splendid  results. 

u  Each  of  our  party  examined  at  different  points  some  hundreds  of  miles  of  the  road 
— either  standing  on  the  platform  of  the  last  car  or  sitting  above  the  cowcatcher. 
Every  one  testified  that  it  is  in  every  respect  a  first-class  road.  There  is  no  indication 
of  slip-shod  or  shoddy  work  about  it.  The  ballasting  of  the  road  is  excellent.  One 
can  write  in  the  cars  with  greater  ease  than  on  any  other  western  road  that  I  have 
ever  traveled  over,  and  I  have  traveled  over  nearly  all  of  them  from  time  to  time." 

The  correspondent  of  the  Boston  Post  says : 

"  We  have  traveled  over  710  miles  of  this  road  with  a  degree  of  ease  and  speed  equal 
to  that  found  upon  any  eastern  road,  and  have  carefully  examined  it  in  all  particu 
lars.  The  bed  of  the  road  is  solid,  the  rails  heavy  and  well  laid,  and  nothing  but  the 
best  material  used  in  building  it;  2,650  cross-ties,  or,  as  they  are  more  familiarly 
known,  sleepers,  are  used  to  the  mile.  All  its  equipments,  stations,  and  in  fact  every 
thing  connected  with  it,  indicate  that  it  is  intended  for  work.  *  *  *  Without 
hesitation  we  can  pronounce  the  statements  made,  that  upon  completion  of  the  road 
it  would  prove  useless,  owing  to  its  poor  construction,  all  false.  They  have  been 
deliberately  planned  for  purposes  that  we  have  previously  stated,  and  would  not  bear 
examination." 

The  correspondent  of  the  Boston  Congregationalist  writes  as 
follows : 

"  Is  the  road,  built  with  such  rapidity,  a  good,  substantial  road  ?  Mindful  of  the 
universal  hope  and  desire  on  this  point  of  vital  importance,  I  determined  at  the  out 
set  to  employ  the  closest  observation  upon  it.  I  rode  many  miles  upon  the  rear 
platform,  and  many  others  upon  the  front  of  the  engine.  I  employed  the  time  at 
dozens  of  stopping-places — not  only  at  regular  stations,  but  at  other  places — in  ex 
amining  the  construction  of  the  road,  and  the  degree  of  thoroughness  manifest  in 
the  work,  and  the  following  things  seemed  to  me  to  be  true  beyond  question:  The 
road-bed  is  of  adequate  breadth;  the  embankments  are  made  with  due  care;  the 
bridges  are  substantial ;  the  ties  are  of  cedar  and  pine  and  other  kinds  of  wood 
equally  good,  and  are  placed  nearer  together  than  is  common  on  eastern  roads,  and 
the  rails  are  of  the  first  quality.  *  *  *  In  view  of  these  facts,  it  would  be  a  vio 
lence  to  the  truth  to  deny  that  the  road  is  what  its  friends  declare  it  to  be — a  thor 
oughly  built,  substantial,  superior  road." 

The  editor  of  the  Philadelphia  Press  says : 

"A  well  laid,  safely-ballasted  road,  in  good  running  order  for  seven  hundred  miles 
west  of  Omaha,  with  station  and  division  houses,  water-tanks,  round-houses,  machine 
shops,  and  an  abundance  of  first-class  rolling  stock,  is  the  evidence  which  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  offers  to-day  of  its  ability  to  make  good  its  promises  and  representa- 


15 

tions.  It  is  a  commonly  accepted  idea,  entertained  even  by  persons  disposed  to  be 
friendly  to  the  interests  of  the  road  and  the  West,  that  this  railway  is  but  a  rudely- 
laid  tramway,  hastily  put  down  over  an  undulating  and  unprepared  surface  for  the 
mere  purpose  of  obtaining  as  quickly  as  possible  the  government  subsidies.  This  is 
the  hypothesis  of  ignorance,  but  perhaps  a  pardonable  one,  when  it  is  considered  that 
not  one  out  of  a  thousand  of  the  people  of  the  East  have  any  adequate  or  intelligent 
knowledge  of  the  country,  or  the  enterprise  which  is  developing  and  revealing  it.  A 
large  majority  of  our  population  hardly  are  aware  of  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  the 
great  land  beyond  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  which  vast  domain  covers  an  area 
of  two  million  square  miles. 

"  Let  me  state  briefly  the  condition  of  the  material  of  this  road  as  it  stood  last 
week. 

"The  rails  are  confessedly  of  the  best  quality.  Even  the  open  enemies  of  the  road 
acknowledge  their  superior  character.  Many  weigh  sixty  pounds  to  the  yard ;  are 
clamped  by  two  spikes  to  each  cross-tie,  and  fastened  together  at  the  ends  by  the 
'fish-plate,'  the  Company  holding  to  the  now  generally  received  opinion  in  the  bet 
ter  railroad  circles  that  the  continuous  rail  is  the  true  idea  of  an  iron  road. 

"Everywhere  the  road-bed  has  been  prepared  by  the  formation  of  a  slightly  raised 
foundation,  with  gutters  or  trenches  on  each  side,  and,  after  the  rails  have  been  laid 
down,  ballasted  with  gravel  or  broken  stone. 

"Over  this  road,  thus  equipped  and  appointed,  our  party  made  a  trial  run,  which 
was  the  best  test  possible  of  its  smoothness,  safety,  management,  and  general 
condition.  On  the  home  trip,  coming  in  from  Cheyenne  City  to  Omaha,  a  stretch 
of  five  hundred  and  seventeen  miles,  our  running  time  averaged  thirty-four  and  three 
fourth  miles.  At  one  point  fifty  miles  were  run  in  sixty  minutes.  This  is  very  nearly 
the  fastest  time  on  record  in  the  history  of  American  railroading.  That  it  was 
made  on  a  new  road,  running  in  part  through  a  hostile  land,  is  the  best  evidence 
in  the  world  that  the  road  has  been  built  with  honesty  and  fairness." 

The  correspondent  of  the  Philadelphia  Inquirer  says : 

"  The  very  first  impression  which  the  practical  observer  receives  from  the  road 
is  that  of  its  solidity  and  smoothness.  It  is  remarkably  well  settled  for  so  new  a 
road.  Everywhere,  from  Omaha  to  Cheyenne,  and  from  Cheyenne  to  Laramie,  the 
road  has  a  firm  bed  of  proper  elevation  and  breadth.  *  *  *  The  lines  of  rail, 
whether  straight  or  curved,  are  very  even  and  exact,  and  we  rode  at  rates  of  speed 
varying  from  twenty-five  to  sixty  miles  per  hour,  with  the  utmost  steadiness,  and 
with  a  consciousness  of  entire  security.  We  ran  fifty-five  consecutive  miles  in  sixty 
minutes,  in  returning  from  North  Platte  to  Omaha,  with  less  swinging  motion  than 
we  have  often  felt  at  twenty-five  miles  per  hour  on  other  roads.  This  is  due  in  part 
to  the  remarkable  firmness  and  solidity  of  the  work,  and  partly  also  to  the  excellent 
ballasting,  which  is  everywhere  observable  on  the  settled  portions  of  the  whole  line. 
*  *  *  The  Company's  foundries,  furnaces,  machine  shops,  construction  and  repair 
shops,  are  all  planned  upon  a  scale  commensm*ate  with  the  magnitude  and  grandeur 
of  this,  the  greatest,  the  crowning  American  enterprise. 

"Viewed  as  a  whole,  viewed  in  its  parts,  viewed  in  minute  detail,  the  conviction 
is  irresistible  that  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company  are  keeping  their  faith  with 
the  American  people ;  and  as  they  are  working  out  the  great  problem  for  the  people, 
they  ought  to  be,  as  they  are,  sustained  by  the  people." 

The  editor  of  the  Philadelphia  Age  writes : 

"It  might  be  supposed,  from  the  rapidity  with  which  the  work  was  done,  that  it 
was  of  a  temporary  and  perishable  character.  But  such  is  not  the  case.  *  *  *  Of 
the  roadway  it  is  enough  to  say  that  we  traversed  it  smoothly,  safely  and  steadily  for 


16 

five  successive  days,  at  a  rate  of  speed  varying  from  twenty  to  fifty  miles  per  hour, 
and  between  the  old  track  and  that  at  the  western  terminus,  which  had  been  finished 
but  an  hour  or  two,  no  discrepancy  was  perceptible." 

The  editor  of  the  Philadelphia  Bulletin  sums  up  the  result  of 
close  examination  by  saying : 

"  The  road  itself  is  as  solidly  and  substantially  built  as  any  road  in  America.  The 
bridges  are  built  with  heavy  and  well-seasoned  timber;  the  ties  are  large  and  very 
closely  laid;  the  embankments  are  solidly  constructed;  the  rails  are  carefully  gauged 
and  the  joints  closely  joined  with  '  fish-plates;'  the  road  is  well  ballasted  with  stone, 
gravel  and  earth,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  soil,  and  the  traveler  passes  over  this 
newly  built  track  with  as  little  consciousness  of  jolting  and  jarring  as  if  the  road-bed 
had  been  settled  and  used  for  a  dozen  years.  The  high  rates  of  speed  which  can  be 
safely  attained  over  the  Union  Pacific,  when  required,  attest  the  excellent  nature  of 
the  whole  work.  The  rolling  stock  is  built  at  the  Company's  shops  at  Omaha,  *  * 
and  is  of  the  most  substantial  character.  In  short,  the  closest  scrutiny  has  failed  to 
discern  any  signs  of  hasty  or  imperfect  construction." 

The  Philadelphia  North  American  says  that 

"  The  track  is  now  being  laid  at  the  rate  of  four  miles  per  day,  and  built  more 
rapidly  and  better  than  any  similar  work  in  the  world." 

Says  the  editor  of  the  Baltimore  American : 

"  It  is  proper  to  say  just  here  that  the  rumors  that  have  been  put  afloat  at  the  East 
that  the  Company  is  a  party  of  speculators,  putting  down  a  rude  and  poorly  construct 
ed  road,  that  will  be  useless,  or  nearly  so,  when  completed,  is  a  falsehood  that  could 
only  have  been  deliberately  concocted  and  put  in  circulation  for  reasons  which  would 
not  bear  examination.  The  road  is  a  good  one,  well  and  solidly  laid,  with  heavy  rail, 
and  twenty-six  hundred  cross-ties  to  the  mile,  over  which  the  cars  travel  with 
remarkable  smoothness,  and  the  equipments,  station-houses  and  workshops,  of 
which  all  show  that  it  is  being  built  for  use  and  not  speculation." 

In  another  letter  he  says : 

"  It  is  well-built,  and  needs  but  those  final  touches,  the  dressing  up  of  embank 
ments,  and  improvement  of  the  road-bed,  which  all  new  roads,  during  the  first  year 
of  their  existence,  add  to  the  construction  account,  to  make  it  as  perfect  as  any  first- 
class  road  east  of  the  Alleghanies." 

The  correspondent  of  the  Chicago  Journal  of  Commerce  writes : 

"In  a  word,  without  going  further  into  details,  we  unhesitatingly  affirm,  without 
fear  of  contradiction  by  any  impartial  person  who  has  seen  and  examined  the  road, 
that  the  Union  Pacific,  in  its  substantial  character,  and  in  view  of  the  short  time  it 
has  taken  to  '  put  it  through '  as  far  as  it  has  gone,  is  the  greatest  industrial  triumph 
of  the  age — a  triumph  of  which  the  nation  may  well  be  proud,  and  for  the  accom 
plishment  of  which  those  who  took  it  in  hand  deserve  the  highest  praise  for  the 
faith,  resolution,  activity,  perseverance  and  varied  business  capacities  they  have  man 
ifested." 


17 


The  correspondent  of  the  Pittsburgh  Chronicle  writes  as  follows : 

"  The  road,  notwithstanding  the  marvellous  rapidity  with  which  all  these  great  dif 
ficulties  have  been  overcome,  is,  so  far  as  it  has  been  laid,  one  of  the  best  in  the  United 
States.  Never  have  I  traveled  over  a  smoother  one,  or  one  on  which  a  high  rate  of 
speed  could  be  maintained  with  greater  security  and  comfort.  It  was  possible  to 
take  notes  very  comfortably  on  a  train  going  at  the  rate  of  thirty  miles  per  hour. 
The  curves  are  comparatively  few,  the  grades  moderate,  very  deep  cuts  unknown,  and 
the  track  well  ballasted.  The  bridges  are  well  built,  the  track  of  the  best  T  rails." 

We  could  extend  these  quotations  to  even  greater  length,  find 
ing  in  each  one  hearty  commendation  of  the  manner  in  which  this 
continental  railroad  has  been  built.  There  is  no  dissenting  voice 
among  all  the  intelligent  views  which  are  given  of  the  road  and  its 
appurtenances.  Good  as  this  railroad  is,  the  Directors  of  the  Com 
pany  are  determined  to  make  it  better,  and  at  a  recent  meeting,  it 
was  resolved  to  place  three  million  dollars  of  the  First  Mortgage 
Bonds  in  trust  to  provide  for  replacing  the  wooden  culverts  with 
stone,  for  substituting  iron  for  the  shorter  wooden  bridges,  and 
for  the  other  permanent  improvements  necessary  to  prepare  it  for 
its  great  future  traffic. 


18 


The  lands  along  the  line  of  the  Union  Pacific  Eailroad  for  two 
hundred  miles  west  of  the  Missouri  river,  have  a  fertility  almost 
unequalled  in  all  the  rich  fields  of  the  productive  West.  These 
lands  are  in  the  valleys  of  the  Platte,  Elkhorn,  Loup  Fork,  and 
Papillion  rivers,  the  second  and  third  being  branches  of  the 
first,  and  emptying  into  it  from  the  north,  and  the  last  a  tribu 
tary  of  the  Missouri.  From  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Kearney  (190 
miles  from  Omaha)  to  the  base  of  the  Eocky  Mountains,  irrigation 
will  be  found  necessary  to  secure  abundant  crops,  but  for  grazing 
and  pasturage  most  of  these  lands  are  very  valuable.  Through 
the  mountain  region,  there  are  numerous  valleys  and  water 
courses  which  contain  a  soil  needing  only  industrious  cultivation  to 
secure  a  profitable  return  to  the  farmer.  The  lands  on  the  Laramie 
Plains  are  high,  but  are  mostly  well  watered,  and  vegetables,  small 
grains,  &c.,  thrive  well.  The  valleys  of  Green  river,  Black  Fork, 
and  the  streams  east  of  the  rim  of  the  great  basin,  are  from  one  to 
five  miles  wide,  well  watered,  and  will  support  a  large  population. 
The  valleys  of  the  Weber  river  and  Great  Salt  Lake  are  already 
thickly  settled,  and  yield  immense  crops  of  grain  and  vegetables, 
while  for  fruit,  they  are  perhaps  unequalled  in  the  United  States. 
The  quotations  given  below  show  how  the  Union  Pacific  Eailroad 
Company's  lands  are  regarded  by  intelligent  eastern  observers. 

Says  the  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Times : 

"The  soil  all  along  this  valley  of  the  Platte  is  of  a  rich,  alluvial  character,  pro 
ducing  splendid  crops  of  wheat,  oats,  corn,  barley,  &c.,  and  the  natural  grass  of 
the  prairie  grows  in  great  luxuriance,  making  herding  a  very  profitable  business. 
Owing  to  the  depth  and  looseness  of  the  soil  along  these  rich  bottom  lands,  the 
farmer  will  never  suffer  from  either  drought  or  excessive  rains — in  dry  weather 


19 

evaporation  drawing  the  moisture  to  the  surface,  and  the  loose  friable  soil  absorb 
ing  the  excessive  water  in  rainy  seasons.  This  fact  has  already  attracted  most  of 
the  settlers  to  this  region,  and  along  the  Platte  are  some  very  extensive  farms,  and 
the  country  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  miles  west  of  Omaha  pre 
sents  but  few  indications  of  those  "western  wilds"  to  which  we  had  been  look 
ing  forward.  The  average  yield  of  wheat  from  these  lands  is  30  to  35  bushels  to 
the  acre,  and  of  corn  45  to  55  bushels." 

The  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Express  says : 

"The  first  hundred  miles  presents  a  spectacle  of  wonderful  fertility,  large  fields 
of  wheat,  oats  and  corn  stretching  out  on  either  side,  while  the  cuttings  of  the  rail 
road  give  glimpses  of  a  soil  rich  to  fullness,  with  dry,  loamy  earth  that  gives  promise 
of  a  crop  unexcelled  by  even  the  great  grain  producing  lands  of  Illinois  or  the  eastern 
States." 

The  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Evening  Post  writes  as 
follows  of  the  products  of  Nebraska : 

"Oat3  produce  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  bushels  (forty  pounds  a  bushel).  The 
wheat  of  Nebraska  commands  in  St.  Louis  market  ten  cents  above  other  wheat ;  the 
average  crop  is  twenty-six  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  forty  bushels  are  not  uncommon. 
The  uplands,  formerly  thought  unsuitable  for  crops,  give  thirty  bushels  to  the  acre. 
Corn  averages  seventy-five  bushels  to  the  acre.  Pota  oes  yield  well  with  abundance 
of  rain,  but  are  uncertain.  Such  droughts  as  affect  Kansas,  cutting  off  all  crops, 
have  not  been  experienced  here." 

The  editor  of  the  Boston  Traveller  says : 

"For  200  miles  west  of  the  Missouri  river— indeed,  up  to  where  the  road  crosses 
the  North  Platte — and  at  the  base  of  the  mountains,  and  in  the  valleys  of  all  the 
rivers,  the  land  is  unsurpassed  for  richness,  and  vegetation,  like  the  roses  in  the 
Groves  of  Blarney,  'spontaneous  grows  there.'  There  is  no  finer  farming  and  graz 
ing  land  in  the  world,  and  in  a  very  few  years  any  cultivator  of  the  soil  will  become 
wealthy.  The  high  lands  are  covered  with  bunch  and  buffalo  grass  at  all  seasons  of 
the  year,  and  afford  superior  pasturage.  There  is  more  rich  grass  destroyed  by  fire 
on  this  prairie  and  mountain  land,  every  year,  than  would  suffice  to  support  all  the 
cattle  in  the  world." 

The  Boston  Watchman  and  Reflector  says  : 

"  The  Papillion  valley  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  fertile  sections  of  Nebraska. 
*  *  For  two  hundred  miles,  with  a  breadth  of  from  twenty  to  fifty  miles,  does 
the  fertile  Platte  valley  exhibit  its  charms,  wooing  by  its  richness  the  graziers  of  the 
continent.  Millions  of  cattle  might  feed  upon  its  luxurious  grasses,  as  millions  of 
buffalo  have  fed  for  ages.  There  is  no  need  of  stock-raisers  emigrating  to  Texas.  For 
years  to  come  t  :e  neighboring  bluffs  will  give  to  the  owner  of  one  hundred  acres  the 
range  often  thousand.  Cattle  in  this  climate  only  need  feeding  three  or  four  months 
in  the  year,  and  a  railroad  runs  by  the  stock-yard,  on  which  your  herd  may  be  con 
veyed  to  a  Chicago  market  within  four  days.  Three  men  in  moderate  circumstances 
might  club  together  their  capital,  raise  ten  thousand  dollars,  invest  it  in  five  hundred 
acres  of  land,  fifty  cows  and  one  bull,  twenty  marcs,  one  stallion  and  one  jack,  and  in 
ten  years  time  they  would  gain  not  only  a  competence,  but  a  fortune." 


20 

Of  the  portion  of  Wyoming  traversed  by  the  railroad,  and  which 
has  already  been  spoken  of  as  requiring  irrigation  to  produce  large 
crops,  the  editor  of  the  Philadelphia  Age  says : 

"It  bears,  however,  heavy  crops  of  short  grass,  upon  which  cattle  feed  and  fatten 
during  the  summer  and  winter  without  other  provender.  This  will  make  this  sec 
tion,  even  in  its  present  condition,  unrivaled  for  grazing  and  pasturage." 

The  editor  of  the  Baltimore  American  says: 

"  The  soil  for  a  distance  of  two  hundred  miles  from  the  Missouri  is  a  rich,  black 
loam,  that  produces  splendid  crops.  *  *  The  indigenous  prairie  hay  is  cut  in  large 
quantities,  cured  and  sent  farther  west  into  the  mountain  regions,  which  will  always 
have  to  depend  principally  upon  the  products  of  the  plain  for  the  supply  of  its  wants. 
The  nutritious  qualities  of  this  grass  is  evident  in  the  sleek,  fat  condition  of  the 
horses  and  cattle  feeding  upon  it.  A  poor  horse  is  a  rarity  in  this  region  which  we 
have  not  seen.1' 

To  extend  these  quotations  would  be  but  to  repeat  in  other 
forms  the  same  idea — that,  agriculturally,  Nebraska  has  no  superior 
in  all  the  great  States  of  the  Union,  and  that  the  lands  along  the 
line  of  the  Union  Pacific  offer  especial  advantages  to  the  emigrant 
from  abroad  or  from  the  eastern  States.* 


TIMBER. 

Pine,  Spruce  and  Hemlock  grow  on  the  Black  Hills  in  large 
quantities,  and  skirt  the  mountains  to  the  south  for  300  miles.  The 
immense  forests  on  the  Medicine  Bow,  Elk,  and  other  mountain 
ranges  are  inexhaustible,  and  the  great  streams,  the  Laramies,  Med 
icine  Bow,  and  North  Platte,  that  rise  among  them,  furnish  easy 
transportation  by  rafts  to  bring  their  products  to  the  Union  Pacific 
road.  West  of  the  main  divide  on  the  heads  of  Green  river,  New 
Fork,  Piney,  and  Labarge,  on  the  north,  and  Black  Fork,  Henry's 
Fork,  Bear  river  and  Weber  on  the  south,  are  some  of  the  finest 
Pine  forests  in  the  country ;  they  are  hundreds  of  miles  in  extent, 
and  are  capable  of  being  brought  to  this  road  by  the  streams  above 
mentioned,  which  are  in  good  rafting  condition  during  the  spring. 

*  It  is  expected  that  full  particulars  in  relation  to  these  lands  will  be  printed  and  ready  for 
circulation  in  a  few  months,  when  the  Company  will  be  pleased  to  respond  to  letters  of  inquiry. 


GOLD    AND    SILVER. 

While  the  increased  facilities  for  transportation  of  laborers,  ma 
chinery  and  supplies  which  the  railroad  will  give,  will  greatly  increase 
the  production  of  gold  and  siver  in  Colorado,  Utah,  Nevada,  Idaho 
and  Montana,  those  regions  will  all  find  their  cheapest  and  most 
direct  outlet  by  way  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  In  addition 
to  the  above  named  mining  territories  are  the  new  mining  dis 
tricts  in  Wyoming,  near  to  the  line  of  the  road.  The  gold  mines 
discovered  in  1867  upon  the  Sweetwater  river,  and  along  the  east 
base  of  the  Wind  River  mountains,  have  already  attracted  a  large 
emigration,  which  will  steadily  increase  so  long  as  the  developments 
promise  so  favorable  returns  as  they  have  thus  far  done.  Deposits 
of  silver  have  been  found  near  the  line  of  the  road,  not  far  from  the 
summit  of  the  Black  Hills,  which  promise  to  yield  a  handsome 
profit  for  working.  No  doubt  the  country  in  the  north  from  the 
Big  Horn  mountains  to  Green  river  is  rich  in  the  precious  metals. 
The  heads  of  the  Powder  river,  the  different  tributaries  of  the 
Platte  and  Sweetwater,  the  immense  country  drained  by  the  trib 
utaries  of  the  Big  Horn  river,  Wind  river,  Porpogie  and  Sweet- 
water  are  already  being  prospected,  and  quartz  lodes  and  placer 
mines  are  being  discovered  all  over  that  vast  extent  of  country.  No 
man  can  now  predict  the  amount  of  trade,  travel,  and  traffic  these 
mines  will  build  up  for  the  road. 

In  the  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Mining  Statistics,  J.  Ross 
BROWNE,  recently  submitted  to  Congress  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  the  mineral  yield  of  the  States  and  Territories  for  1867, 
is  estimated  as  follows : 


22 

California,         ....  $25,000,000    Colorado,   .         . ,  j. .        .        .  $2,500,000 
Nevada,        ....         20,08P>0    New  Mexico, ....  500,000 

Montana,  .        .        .        . '       .     12,000,000    Arizona, 500,000 

Idaho,.        .        .        .        .  6,500,000  !  Miscellaneous,        .        .        .        5,000,000 

Washington,     .        *'•''.-       .      1,000,000  i 

Oregon,        ....  2,000,000  Total,        .        .        .         $75,000,000 

The  entire  product  of  the  precious  metals  from  1848  to  Jan.  1, 
1868,  is  estimated  as  follows : 


California,  ....  $900,000,000 
Montana,  ....  65,000,000 

Nevada, 90,000,000 

Idaho,  .  .  ...  45,000,000 
Washington,  .  .  .  .  10,000,000 
Oregon,  .  ,  .  .  20,000,000 


Colorado,  ....  $25,000,000 
New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  .  5,000,000 
Miscellaneous,  .  .  .  45,000,000 
Retained  for  plate,  jewelry,  &c.,  50,000,000 


Total,        .        .        .    $1,255,000,000 


Mr.  BROWNE  says  of  the  region  under  consideration :  "  The  area 
of  land  suitable  for  cultivation  is  much  larger  than  was  originally 
supposed,  and  important  results  are  anticipated  from  the  comple 
tion  of  the  Pacific  Kailroad." 

COAL. 

A  discovery  of  almost  incalculable  value  to  the  Company,  and 
to  the  entire  country  along  the  line  of  the  road,  has  been  that  of 
enormous  beds  of  very  excellent  coal  in  the  Laramie  Plains  and  the 
mountains  at  the  west.  This  coal  field  is  now  being  developed,  and 
it  is  found  to  be  the  finest  yet  opened  west  of  the  Missouri  river. 
At  Carbon  Station,  about  650  miles  west  from  Omaha,  a  vein  sixteen 
feet  in  thickness  is  being  worked,  and  about  one  hundred  tons  of  ex 
cellent  coal  taken  out  per  day.  This  coal  is  semi-bituminous,  and  is 
found  to  be  better  adapted  to  use  upon  locomotives  than  that  which 
had  previously  been  obtained  from  northern  Iowa  for  that  purpose. 
The  fuel  question  has  been  one  which  it  was  feared  would  be  hard 
to  meet  in  the  far  west,  where  timber  was  comparatively  scarce,  but 
the  opening  of  this  coal  field,  together  with  the  working  of  other 
beds  near  Cheyenne,  and  the  discovery  of  yet  other  extensive  de 
posits  in  Weber  valley,  west  of  the  Wahsatch  mountains,  have  solved 
the  problem  in  a  manner  as  satisfactory  as  it  is  valuable. 

IRON. 

Limonite  and  Hemitite  ores  are  found  in  vast  quantities  at  the 
eastern  base  of  the  mountains  on  the  Laramie  Plains,  and  in  por 
tions  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  basin/"  Mountains  of  magnetic  ore 


haye  been  discovered  on  the  Chugwater,  easy  of  access  from  the 
line,  and  also  on  the  north  fork  of  the  Platte.  On  the  Weber  river, 
iron  ore  exists  in  inexhaustible  quantities,  and  so  far  as  tested  it  is 
equal  in  quality  to  the  average  found  anywhere  in  the  United  States. 
Concerning  the  mineral  deposits  along  the  line  of  the  road,  the 
editor  of  the  Philadelphia  Press  says : 

u  These  great  plains  have  not  as  yet  given  up  their  mineral  treasures.  Scientific 
or  systematic  exploration  in  this  direction  has  never  yet  been  made.  The  rich  mines 
now  working  are  more  the  result  of  accident  or  fortune  than  of  intelligent  labor,  but 
even  they  are  yielding  a  princely  revenue  already.  The  whole  line  of  the  Pacific  Rail 
road,  after  It  enters  the  mountain  region,  is  rich  in  coal  and  other  mineral  deposits. 
Iron  is  found  in  vast  quantities  on  the  Laramie  Plains,  and  each  day  scientific  explo 
rations  are  opening  up  veins  of  gold,  silver,  lead,  copper,  and  other  valuable  minerals. 
The  salt  springs  yield  a  result  of  twenty  per  cent,  of  pure  salt,  and  the  entire  region 
is  one  of  vast  promise  for  the  future." 

MINERAL   SPRINGS. 

The  correspondent  of  the  Pittsburgh  Commercial  (an  educated, 
scientific  chemist,)  writes  as  follows : 

"In  the  Rocky  Mountains  the  number  of  springs,  cold,  thermal,  saline,  chalybeate, 
sulphurous  and  alkaline,  are  past  all  computation,  and  represent  nearly  all  the  kinds 
of  mineral  waters  known  to  be  of  therapeutic  value.  Near  to  Salt  Lake  city  and  in 
other  parts  of  the  mountains  are  the  hot  sulphur  springs,  which  are  found  so  bene 
ficial  in  cutaneous  and  rheumatic  diseases,  rivalling  the  eaux-chandes  at  Cauterct  in 
the  Hautcs  Pyrenees,  in  their  efficacy,  and  superior  to  them  in  the  more  agreeable 
climate  in  which  they  are  situated.  On  the  Bear  river  the  alkaline  springs  are  far 
more  active  and  powerful  in  the  proportion  of  constituents  than  those  of  Ncris  and 
the  celebrated  Grand-grilles  at  Vichy,  where  the  shattered  constitutions  of  the  Euro 
pean  nobility  are  wont  to  seek  a  cure." 


THE   IDAHO,  OREGON"  &  PUGET's  SOUND — THE  BRANCH  TO  MONTANA 
— THE  DENVER,  AND  CENTRAL  PACIFIC. 

Eapid  construction  of  the  main  line  of  the  Union  Pacific  Rail 
road  is  of  paramount  importance,  but  the  building  of  branch  and 
connecting  railroads  is  also  a  work  of  magnitude  and  of  great  value. 
Branch  roads  to  Colorado,  Oregon  and  Montana  are  projected. 
Arapahoe  county,  Colorado,  by  a  vote  of  1,210  for  to  15  against,  on 
the  20th  of  January,  1868,  decided  to  take  $500,000  of  the  stock  of 
a  railroad  connecting  Denver  with  the  Union  Pacific  road,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Cheyenne,  a  distance  of  100  miles,  and  that  road  is  now 
in  process  of  construction. 

A  bill  was  introduced  into  Congress,  at  the  last  session,  to  in 
corporate  the  Idaho,  Oregon  &  Puget's  Sound  Railroad  Company, 
which  contemplates  not  only  a  road  to  the  points  indicated  in  the 
company  title,  but  also  a  branch  to  Montana.  The  report  of  the 
chief  engineer  of  the  company  upon  the  Oregon  route,  says  that  to 
reach  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Pacific  by  the  Snake  river  route 
will  require  the  construction  of  but  400  miles  of  additional  road, 
and  this  through  a  country  abounding  in  timber  and  coal,  and  capa 
ble  of  sustaining  a  large  population.  The  road  could  be  built  at 
the  rate  of  300  miles  per  year,  and,  in  the  words  of  the  engineer, 
"  the  local  business  of  Oregon  and  Idaho  would  support  it  to-day. 
No  such  difficulties  in  obtaining  material,  labor,  or  transportation 
would  be  encountered  on  this  line  as  we  have  had  to  encounter  in 
building  the  Union  Pacific." 

The  Montana  branch  would  leave  the  Oregon  line  in  Snake  River 
Valley,  and,  by  a  feasible  route,  would  reach  the  heart  of  the  Terri- 


25 

tory  in  a  distance  of  200  miles.  By  beginning  active  work  in  the 
spring  of  1869,  the  fall  of  1870  would  give  Montana,  Idaho,  Wash 
ington,  and  Oregon  Territories  direct  steam  communication  with 
all  points  east,  whereas,  by  the  route  to  which  they  have  been  look 
ing  for  railroad  connection — the  Northern  Pacific — they  would  have 
to  wait  years  for  the  building  of  1,700  miles,  instead  of  the  400 
which  are  here  necessary. 

The  eastern  connection  of  the  Union  Pacific,  by  way  of  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad,  is  now  complete.  The  Chicago, 
Rock  Island  &  Pacific  road  is  being  rapidly  extended  from  Des 
Moines,  and  will  be  finished  to  the  Missouri  river  in  a  few  weeks. 
The  Burlington  &  Missouri  Railroad,  which  is  being  built  across 
Southern  Iowa  to  Omaha,  will  form  a  third  line  to  the  eastward, 
while  the  completion  of  the  railroad  to  St.  Joseph  gives  direct  rail 
connection  with  St.  Louis.  Omaha  already  contains  about  17,000 
inhabitants,  and  is  the  center  of  a  very  large  traffic.  This  city  will 
be  the  converging  and  diverging  point  for  all  the  eastern  trade  of 
the  road. 

The  business  of  Omaha  and  of  the  Union  Pacific  road  will  be 
greatly  facilitated  by  the  magnificent  iron  bridge  which  is  to  be 
erected  across  the  Missouri  at  that  point,  and  which,  with  its  ap 
proaches,  will  cost  two  and  one-half  million  dollars.  This  bridge  is 
now  under  contract,  and  work  upon  it  has  begun. 

The  Central  Pacific  of  California,  which  will  form  the  western 
or  Pacific  coast  connection,  is  being  pushed  forward  with  great 
energy,  and,  beginning  at  Sacramento,  has  already  crossed  the 
Sierra  Nevada  mountains,  which  were  the  most  formidable  barrier 
to  be  surmounted  on  the  whole  Pacific  line.  The  Central  Pacific 
Company  report  that  they  have  already  expended  about  forty  million 
dollars  ($40,000,000),  have  finished  325  miles,  and  that  they  have 
no  doubt  that  they  will  be  able  to  meet  the  Union  Pacific  in  1869. 


Congress,  having  determined  that  the  Pacific  Railroad  should  be 
built  with  the  aid  of  the  Government,  also  determined  that  that 
aid  should  be  ample  to  accomplish  the  purpose.  No  half-way 
measures  would  answer.  The  most  feasible  route  across  the  con 
tinent  was  selected,  which  should  be  the  Grand  Trunk  Line — the 
western  artery  of  the  whole  railroad  system  of  the  United  States. 
The  grants  in  aid  of  construction  are  as  follows : 

1st.  THE  RIGHTS  OP  WAY  AND  MATERIAL,  which  include  all 
necessary  public  lands  for  track,  stations,  depots,  timber,  stone,  &c. 

2d.  THE  GRANT  OF  MONEY. — The  Government  grants  its  six 
per  cent,  currency  interest  thirty-year  bonds  to  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad,  to  the  following  amounts : 


$8,272,000 


7,200,000 


On  the  plain  portion  of  the  road,  extending  from  Omaha  to  the  base 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  517  miles,  at  the  rate  of  $16,000  per 
mile,  is  .  .  .  '.  '  .  .'  • 

On  the  most  difficult  portion  of  the  road,  extending  from  the  east 
ern  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  westwardly,  150  miles,  at 
the  rate  of  $48,000  per  mile,  is  ..... 

On  the  remaining  distance  westwardly  towards  the  California  State 
line,  at  the  rate  of  $32,000  per  mile.  Estimating  the  distance 
to  be  built  by  the  U  lion  Pacific  Company,  before  meeting 
with  the  Central  Pacific,  at  1,100  miles,  this  would  leave  a  re 
mainder  of  433  miles,  at  $32,000  per  mile,  which  is  .  .  13,856,000 

Or  a  total,  for  1,100  miles,  of  .  .  .  .  .       $29,328,000 

These  bonds  are  issued  only  on  the  completion  of  each  section  of 
twenty  miles  of  road,  and  upon  the  certificate  of  Commissioners  ap 
pointed  by  the  United  States  Government  that  the  road  is  thor 
oughly  built  and  adequately  supplied  with  all  the  machinery,  equip 
ment  and  fixtures  necessary  to  complete  a  first-class  railroad.  The 
interest  on  these  bonds  is  paid  by  the  U.  S.  Treasury,  but  is  a 


27 

charge  against  the  Company.  By  its  charter,  the  Company  re 
ceives  one-half  the  amount  of  its  claims  against  the  Government, 
for  transporting  its  troops,  freight,  mails,  &c.,  in  money,  and  the 
remaining  half  is  placed  to  its  credit  as  a  sinking  fund,  to  be  applied 
to  the  payment  of  the  interest  and  principal  of  these  bonds. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  lotli  divisions  of  the  great  Pacific 
line  stand  upon  precisely  the  same  footing  in  this  and  in  all  other  par 
ticulars  respecting  the  Government  grants.  (See  Acts  of  Congress.) 

3d.  THE  GRANT  OF  LANDS. — The  Government  grants  to  the 
Company  every  alternate  section  of  land  for  twenty  miles  on  each 
side  of  the  road,  making  in  all  twenty  sections,  equal  to  12,800 
acres  for  each  mile  of  the  railroad.  For  a  distance  of  1,100  miles, 
this  grant,  which  is  an  absolute  donation,  amounts  to  fourteen  mil 
lion  and  eighty  thousand  (14,080,000)  acres.  As  the  railroad  fol 
lows  the  rich  valley  of  the  Great  Platte  for  nearly  300  miles,  a  large 
portion  of  these  lands  may  be  classed  among  the  most  productive  in 
the  world,  and,  indeed,  there  can  hardly  be  any  lands  along  the 
line  of  such  an  important  road  that  will  not  command  a  reasonable 
price  for  tillage,  grazing  or  timber.  It  will  certainly  be  quite 
within  bounds  to  estimate  them  at  an  average  of  $1.50  per  acre, 
and  competent  experts  value  them  at  a  much  higher  rate.  On  the 
the  7th  of  March,  1868,  the  President  of  the  United  States  signed 
a  congressional  bill  which  provides  that  the  alternate  sections  of 
land  belonging  to  the  Government  on  the  line  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  shall  not  be  sold  at  less  than  $2.50  per  acre. 

4th.  THE  LOAN  GRANT. — The  Government  grants  the  Com 
pany  a  right  to  issue  its  own  First  Mortgage  Bonds  on  its  railroad 
and  telegraph  lines  to  an  amount  equal  to  that  of  the  bonds  of  the 
United  States  issued  to  the  Company.  By  special  act  of  Congress 
[passed  July  2,  1864],  these  First  Mortgage  Bonds  are  made  a  lien 
prior  to  all  claims  of  the  Government,  or  to  any  claims  whatsoever. 
This  gives  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company  the  following  re 
sources,  exclusive  of  its  capital  stock,  for  the  construction  of  1,100 
miles  of  road : 

U.  S.  Bonds  on  517  miles  at  $16,000  per  mile,  .  .  .  $8,372,000 

"          "  150          "       48,000        "  ...          7,300,000 

"          "  433          "        33,000        "'....  13,856,000 

$29,328,000 

The  Company's  own  First  Mortgage  Bonds  to  same  amount,          .  29,328,000 
Land  Grant  of  12,800  acres  per  mile,  at  $1.50  per  acre,    .  .        21,120,000 

Total, $79,776,000 


THE   MEANS   SUFFICIENT   TO   BUILD   THE    ROAD. 

The  supposed  great  difficulties  in  the  way  of  building  the  Pacific 
Kailroad  have  diminished  as  they  have  been  encountered.  Con 
tracts  for  the  construction  of  914  miles  west  from  Omaha,  com 
prising  much  of  the  most  difficult  mountain  work,  and  embracing 
every  expense  except  surveying,  have  been  made  with  responsible 
parties  (who  have  already  finished  820  miles,)  at  the  average  rate  of 
sixty-eight  thousand  and  fifty-eight  dollars  ($68,058)  per  mile- 
This  price  includes  all  necessary  car-shops,  depots,  stations,  and  all 
other  incidental  buildings,  and  also  locomotives,  passenger,  baggage 
and  freight  cars,  and  other  requisite  rolling-stock,  to  an  amount 
that  shall  not  be  less  than  $7,500  per  mile.  Allowing  the  cost  of 
the  remaining  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  of  the  eleven  hundred 
miles  assumed  to  be  built  by  the  Union  Pacific  Company  to  be 
$90,000  per  mile, 

THE   TOTAL    COST   OF   ELEVEN   HUNDRED    MILES   AND   EQUIPMENT, 
WILL   BE   AS   FOLLOWS  I 

914  miles,  at  $68,058,      .  .  .  .  ...  $62,205,012 

186      "  90,000,  .  .    •        .  .  .  .          16,740,000 

Add  interest  and  miscellaneous  expenses,  surveys,  &c.,      .  .      3,500,000 

Amount,  .        '    .  .  .  .       '     .   '         .        $82,445,012 

As  the  U.  S.  Bonds  are  equal  to  money,  and  the  Company's  own 
First  Mortgage  Bonds  have  a  ready  market,  we  have  as  the 

AVAILABE    CASH    RESOURCES   FOR   BUILDING   ELEVEN   HUNDRED 

MILES, 

U.  S.  Bonds,        .            .            .            .            .           V  .  .$29,328,000 

First  Mortgage  Bonds,          .            .            .  v    !  •                      29,328,000 

Capital  stoek  paid  in  on  the  work  now  done,         '•  .  ;  i   «  •     13,243,800 

Land  Grant,  14,080,000  acres,  at  $1.50  per  acre,  .  .           .          21,120,000 

Total,  .         :.  .  .  .  .  .  .$93,019,800 

The  land  grant  will  not  be  immediately  available  for  income, 
but  the  Company  have  other  facilities  for  supplying  all  the  means 
needed  in  construction. 


How  large  a  business  is  it  safe  to  predict  for  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  ?  This  is  a  question  not  easily  answered,  simply  because 
the  indications  are  so  favorable  that  the  actual  traffic  will  almost 
inevitably  be  greater  than  even  the  most  sanguine  of  its  friends 
now  assert.  But  we  can  put  upon  record  the  estimates  of  some  of 
those  who  have  given  the  subject  especial  attention.  Hon.  E.  D. 
MANSFIELD,  Commissioner  of  Statistics  for  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  a 
gentleman  thoroughly  familiar  with  railroad  enterprises  in  their 
relation  to  the  development  of  the  country,  made  the  following  esti 
mates  in  relation  to  the  prospects  of  this  Company,  in  May,  1867: 

"We  have  some  authentic  facts  on  which  to  base  a  fair  estimate  of  the  business 
of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  when  it  is  completed.  In  a  general  view,  we  find  the  fact  of 
an  intermediate  unsettled  country  counterbalanced  by  the  millions  of  persons  and 
tonnage  of  products  on  either  side  seeking  mutual  intercourse.  On  this  point  we 
have  the  following  facts,  derived  from  Shipping  Lists,  Insurance  Companies,  Rail 
roads,  and  general  information : 

Ships  going  from  the  Atlantic  around  Cape  Horn — 100,     .          .     80,000  tons. 
Steamships  connecting  at  Panama  with  California  and  China — 55,  120,000     " 
Overland  Trains,  Stages,  Horses,  &c.,         .  .  .  .     30,000     " 

"  Here  we  have  two  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  tons  carried  westward ;  and  ex 
perience  has  shown,  that  in  the  last  few  years  the  returned  passengers  from  California 
have  been  nearly  as  numerous  as  those  going.  So  also  the  great  mass  of  gold  and 
silver  flows  eastward ;  latterly  there  is  an  importation  of  wheat  from  California  and 
goods  from  China  by  the  Pacific  route.  Fairly  assuming,  therefore,  that  the  trade 
each  way  will  be  about  equal,  we  have  460,000  tons  as  the  actual  freight  across  the  con 
tinent. 

"  How  many  passengers  are  there  ?    We  make  the  following  estimate : 

110  (both  ways)  steamships, 50,000* 

200  "  vessels, 4,000 

Overland  (both  ways),          ,  .  100,000 

Number  per  annum,  ......          154,000 

*  It  may  be  well  to  say,  in  support  of  the  accuracy  of  this  estimate,  that  the  Pacific  Mail 
Steamship  Company  carried  31,897  passengers  in  the  year  ending  January  31, 1868,  and  27,000 
in  the  first  six  months  o:1 1868,  while  the  North  American  Steamship  Company  have  carred, 
this  year,  an  average  of  1,600  pissengers  per  month,  or  about  20,000  per  year.  The  total  by 
these  two  lines,  for  the  year  1868,  will  probably  exceed  70,000. 


30 

"  Present  prices  (averaging  half  the  cost  of  the  steamships),  for  both  passengers 
and  tonnage,  give  this  result: 

154,000  passengers  at  $100,       i:.        ,       ;    .  .  .$15,400,000 

460,000  tons  rated  at  $1  per  cubic  foot,  .  ,  *  .         15,640,000 

Present  Cost  of  Transportation,  ,,        >  »     .       •   $31,040,000 

"  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  number  of  passengers  will  be  more  than  doubled 
by  the  completion  of  the  road ;  so  also,  the  road  would  take  all  the  very  light  and 
valuable  goods,  which  would  be  greatly  increased  by  the  China  trade.  Taking  these 
things  into  view — estimating  passengers  at  7#  cents  per  mile,  and  goods  at  $1  per 
cubic  foot — we  have 

300,000  passengers  at  $150  each,          .          '.  ;  .  .$45,000,000 

300,000  tons  at  $34,  .  .  .-         '..        .    •  .  10,300,000 


Gross  receipts,         .  .  .  .  .  .  $55,200,000 

"Suppose  that  the  proportion  accruing  to  the  Union  Pacific  is  $30,000,000,  then 
estimate  the  running  expenses  at  one-half,  and  this  would  leave  a  net  profit  of 
$15,000,000. 

"  This  may  seem  very  large  to  those  who  have  not  examined  the  subject,  but  it 
must  be  remembered — 1st,  that  the  longest  lines  of  road  are  the  most  profitable ;  2d, 
that  this  road  connects  two  oceans,  and  the  vast  populations  of  Western  Europe  and 
Eastern  Asia;  3d,  that  the  immense  mining  regions  of  Idaho,  Montana,  Nevada,  and 
California,  just  developing,  will  produce  a  transit  of  persons  and  freight  at  present 
beyond  belief.  We  leave  this  estimate  on  record  as  a  moderate  (not  an  exaggerated) 
view  of  the  business  and  profits  which  may  be  fairly  expected  from  the  Grand  Pacific 
Railroad." 

For  many  years  to  come,  at  least,  the  Union  Pacific  Eailroad  will 
be  the  only  railway  avenue  of  communication  between  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  States,  and  between  the  great  mining  districts  and  the 
markets  whence  they  derive  their  supplies,  and  to  which  they  ex 
port  their  products.  As  such,  the  through  and  the  way  traffic  of 
the  line  must  be  immense.  But  added  to  this  home  traffic  will  be 
the  great  volume  of  China  trade,  that  is  preparing  for  the  new  order 
of  things  when  the  railroad  shall  be  complete.  The  Pacific  Mail 
Steamship  Company  of  New  York  are  now  running  a  regular  line 
of  their  splendid  steamers  between  San  Francisco  and  China  and 
Japan,  which  is  doubtless  the  pioneer  of  other  lines,  that  will  tra 
verse  the  Pacific  Ocean  laden  with  the  teas,  spices  and  other  pro 
ducts  of  Eastern  Asia,  the  most  of  these  cargoes  finding  their  natural 
transit  over  the  Union  Pacific  Kailroad.  Already,  as  will  be  seen  by 
subsequent  tables,  the  earnings  of  the  unfinished  road,  on  way  busi 
ness  alone,  have  exceeded  four  millions  per  year,  and  every  additional 
completed  mile  must  increase  the  business  and  profit.  The  popu 
lation  of  the  Territories,  thanks  to  this  railroad,  is  rapidly  increasing; 
the  fertile  lands  along  the  line  are  being  taken  up  and  improved  by 


31 

settlers  who  will  be  good  customers  of  the  railroad  to  which  they 
owe  their  safety  and  their  profitable  cultivation  of  the  soil;  the 
yield  of  gold,  silver,  iron  and  coal,  will  be  largely  augmented,  as 
the  railroad  affords  improved  and  cheapened  mining  facilities,  and 
the  merchants  of  the  Old  and  the  New  worlds  will  find  by  this  line 
the  shortest  and  cheapest  route  for  their  interchange  of  commercial 
commodities.  Concerning  one  feature  of  the  anticipated  through 
traffic,  the  correspondent  of  the  Pittsburgh  Commercial  writes : 

"  Of  the  China  trade  referred  to  in  the  above,  no  small  item  will  undoubtedly  be 
tea.  The  aroma  of  all  teas,  of  whatever  description  or  quality  they  may  be,  is  injured 
and  even  destroyed  by  a  long  sea  voyage.  The  Russia  overland  tea  is  from  this  cause 
the  most  celebrated  in  Europe,  and  is  used  by  the  wealthy  in  England  and  France, 
not  only  for  its  taste  but  its  exhilarating  effect.  It  is  contended  this  is  a  kind 
of  tea  not  imported  into  this  country,  but  it  is  well  known  that  several  Chinese  mer 
chants,  such  as  Fouqwa,  of  Canton,  furnish  their  American  customers  with  the 
choicest  teas  which  are  exported ;  the  rare  and  highest  flavored  brands  are  of  course 
consumed  at  home.  When  the  people  once  learn  to  appreciate  the  remarkable  dif 
ference  in  the  flavor  of  tea,  brought  by  rapid  steamer  to  San  Francisco  and  over  the 
railroad  to  the  markets  here,  the  small  additional  cost  will  be  a  matter  of  no  consid 
eration,  and  the  importation  by  this  route  will  be  immense." 

The  editor  of  the  Boston  Journal,  in  closing  a  review  of  the 
West  under  the  new  regime  of  railroad  extension,  says : 

"  People  these  great  States— Dacotah.  Wyoming,  Colorado,  Utah,  Idaho,  Montana, 
Washington,  Oregon,  Nevada,  California — with  the  sons  of  toil ;  cast  into  their  fertile 
molds  the  seeds  of  cereal  harvests  unlock  the  gates  of  their  hidden  mineral  wealth  ; 
constrain  their  water  forces  to  the  benign  utilities  of  civilization  ;  convert  their 
forests  into  vehicles  of  commerce;  turn  their  decaying  exuberance  into  living  active 
values,  and  give  them  avenues  of  passage  east  by  Pacific  railways,  to  the  marts  of 
trade  by  lake  and  ocean  shores,  and  west  over  the  splendid  steamers  plying  between 
San  Francisco  and  Eastern  Asia,  to  the  teeming  millions  of  China  and  Japan,  and 
who  can  calculate  the  wondrous  tide  of  travel  and  freight  that  shall  find  transit  along 
this  great  artery  of  motion,  commerce,  wealth,  national  unity,  and  peace.  But  more 
than  this  must  be  true.  So  great  will  be  the  saving  of  time  and  the  safety  of  freight 
age,  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  commerce  of  Japan  and  China  (in  the  years  to 
come  to  be  marvelously  developed,  under  commercial  treaties  with  those  peoples,) 
their  teas,  their  spices,  their  woods,  their  silks,  and  all  their  wonderful  products, 
must  find  their  natural  transit  over  the  road  of  the  Union  Pacific  Company. 

u  Certainly  the  day  of  great  and  unexampled  things  is  upon  us,  and  it  behooves 
us  of  the  older  cities  and  States,  into  whose  hands  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  this 
wealth  and  toil  is  to  fall,  to  cease  guarding  and  fortifying  the  old  wharf,  the  old  ware 
house,  the  old  market,  and  the  old  roadstead,  and  to  prepare  more  spacious  recepta 
cles,  more  generous  avenues,  new  facilities  of  transhipment,  widen  our  narrow 
streets,  consolidate  our  iron  tracks,  spread  out  our  wharves,  bridge  our  sluggish  and 
half-used  water-courses,  and  stir  ourselves  with  the  electric  thrill  of  new  motives 
and  world-wide  purposes  of  progress." 


33 


The  prospective  value  of  the  Union  Pacific  Kailroad,  as  a  pro 
moter  of  emigration  and  of  increased  production  of  the  minerals  of 
the  west,  is  beyond  question.  But  its  value  and  profit  as  a  national 
undertaking  are  by  no  means  confined  to  the  future.  Each  year 
of  its  operation,  even  in  its  unfinished  state,  insures  direct,  une 
quivocal  profit  to  the  national  treasury,  as  the  following  figures, 
furnished  by  Gen.  M.  0.  MEIGS,  U.  S.  Quartermaster-General,  abund 
antly  prove. 

Previous  to  the  building  of  this  continental  railroad,  all  govern 
ment  freight,  consisting  chiefly  of  supplies  for  the  troops  upon  the 
frontier,  was  carried  by  wagons  under  contracts  given  to  the  lowest 
responsible  bidders.  At  the  time  of  the  Mormon  war,  the  annual 
expense  of  maintaining  troops  upon  the  Plains  amounted  to  about 
$1,000  per  man,  most  of  this  sum  being  chargeable  to  transporta 
tion.  In  1866,  wagon  transportation  upon  "Koute  No.  1"  (the 
route  now  occupied  by  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad),  cost  an  average 
of  28.4  cdnts  per  ton  per  mile.  In  1867,  an  average  of  39.4  cents 
was  paid  for  similar  service,  while,  on  account  of  the  increased  dis 
tance,  for  the  season  from  January  1, 1868,  to  March  31st,  the  lowest 
contract  that  could  be  made  was  for  50  cents  per  ton  per  mile. 

The  average  tariff  of  government  transportation  over  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  is  10.61  cents  per  ton  per  mile,  but  even  this  is  in 
excess  of  the  actual  cost,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  following  extract 
from  a  letter  from  Quartermaster-General  MEIGS,  under  date  of 
September  1,  1868 : 

"It  may  properly  be  assumed  that  the  average  rate  per  ton  per  mile  charged  by 
your  Company,  (10.61  cents,)  being  based  upon  your  published  tariff  rates,  is  some 
what  in  excess  of  the  actual  average  rate  paid  by  this  Department  for  its  transporta 
tion,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  greater  portion  of  the  freight  carried  for  it  is  com 
prised  under  the  lower  classes,  and  that  ten  and  one-hall  (10.5)  cents  per  ton  per 
mile  would  approximate  the  rate  actually  paid." 


33 

The  amount  paid  by  the  War  Department  to  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  in  1867,  for  government  "transportation,  was 
$699,698.81.  Had  this  same  freight  been  transported  by  wagons, 
at  the  contract  price  for  that  year  (39.4  cents),  the  cost  would  have 
been  $2,625,536.41.  In  other  words,  the  money  actually  saved,  in 
one  year,  in  the  transportation  of  government  freight,  with  the 
road  in  operation  for  an  average  distance  of  but  386  miles,  was  one 
million  nine  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  dollars  and  sixty  cents  ($1,925,837.60).  As  has  been 
stated,  one-half  the  Company's  charges  against  the  government  for 
transportation  are  paid  in  cash,  the  balance  being  credited  toward 
the  payment  of  the  United  States  Bonds  and  their  interest.  The  U. 
S.  Treasury  Department  ofiicially  reports  that  the  total  amount  of 
interest  which  had  been  paid  by  government  upon  bonds  issued  to 
the  Company  up  to  June  30th,  1868,  was  $764,655.75.  The  amount 
paid  by  the  Company  on  account  of  the  above  charge  to  the  same 
period,  was  $615,914.58,  with  a  balance  then  due  from  the  War  De 
partment,  of  $55,229.42,  one-half  of  which  was  applicable  to  the 
payment  of  the  interest  account.  It  will  therefore  be  seen  that  the 
government  has  actually  paid  out  only  $121,126.46  (which  itself 
will  probably  be  more  than  paid  by  Government  transportation 
during  the  present  year),  while  its  actual  saving  in  one  year's  trans 
portation  was  almost  two  million  dollars.  As  the  railroad  is  rapidly 
carried  forward,  the  amount  of  its  government  service  and  the  cor 
responding  saving  to  the  treasury  will  increase  even  more  rapidly, 
while  in  other  respects  the  national  gain  will  be  equally  manifest. 
By  the  building  of  the  road  and  the  emigration  which  it  renders 
possible  and  profitable,  the  value  of  all  government  lands  along  its 
line  will  be  increased  beyond  present  computation.  Lands  which 
before  were  entirely  inaccessible,  and  therefore  worthless,  are  now 
brought  into  direct  connection  with  markets  whose  demand  for  all 
productions  of  the  soil  will  steadily  increase,  while  those  situated 
near  the  town-sites  established  by  the  Company  will  at  once  become 
of  very  great  value.  The  population  thus  supported  and  encouraged 
by  the  railroad  will  not  only  swell  our  agricultural  and  mineral  pro 
ductions,  but,  if  the  present  ratio  of  national  taxation  be  kept  up, 
the  people  along  the  line  of  the  Pacific  road  will,  in  ten  years  time, 
pay  not  less  than  ten  million  dollars  as  annual  taxes  into  the  U.  S. 
treasury.  In  short,  it  is  safe  to  assert  that  this  railroad  will  prove 
by  far  the  most  profitable  of  all  the  internal  improvements  ever 
aided  by  government. 


34 


]je 


—  jittml  warnings, 


As  no  one  has  ever  expressed  a  doubt  that  as  soon  as  the  road  is 
completed,  its  through  business  will  be  abundantly  profitable,  it  be 
comes  interesting  to  know,  not  only  what  may  be  expected,  but 
what  has  actually  been  earned,  by  the  way  or  local  business,  so  far 
as  it  has  been  opened.  It  should  be  remembered  that,  although  set 
tlements  are  being  rapidly  made  along  the  line,  until  recently  the 
road  has  run  through  a  wilderness  for  almost  its  entire  length ;  but 
as  every  year  brings  an  influx  of  population,  this  local  traffic  will 
have  a  steadily  increasing  value.  At  present,  its  transportation 
for  the  government  and  for  the  mining  regions  is  the  chief  source 
of  its  already  large  revenue.  As  these  mining  regions  are  penetrat 
ed,  the  earnings  will  be  greatly  increased,  and  the  various  branch 
lines  that  will  soon  be  constructed  will  be  most  valuable  feed 
ers  of  the  main  trunk. 

The  following  are  the  earnings  and  expenses  of  the  Union  Pa 
cific  Railroad  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1868 : 


EARNINGS. 


From  Passengers, 
"     Freight, 
41     Express, 
"      Mails, 
"     Miscellaneous, 


$888,335.05 

3,233,371.61 

30,954.79 

66,800.00 

26,579.28 

§4,246,040.73 


35 


EXPENSES. 


For  Conducting  Transportation, 
"    Motive  Power, 
"    Maintenance  ot  Cars, 
Way, 
"    General  Expenses, 

Net  earnings  to  balance, 


$517,802.86 
977,010.03 
209,150.57 
831,537.66 
149,255.43 

$2,684,757.14 
1,561,283.59 

$4,246,040.73 


The  average  length  of  road  in  operation  for  the  same  time  was 
472  miles.  • 

The  amount  of  First  Mortgage  Bonds  the  Company  can  issue 
on  this  472  miles  is  $7,520,000. 

Gold  interest  for  one  year,  at  the  rate  of  6  per  cent.,  is        .  .     $451,200 

Add  40  per  cent,  premium  for  gold,  ....  180,480 

$631,680 
Surplus  for  the  year,  after  paying  interest  on  First  Mortgage  Bonds,  $929,603.59 

"We  will  now  add  to  the  account  the  interest  on  the  U.  S.  Second 
Mortgage  Bonds,  and  it  will  stand  as  follows : 

Net  earnings  for  one  year,        .....  $1,561,283.59 

Interest  on  First  Mortgage  Bonds,  reduced  to  currency,  $631,680 
"         "  Second      "  "        in  currency,        .          451,200 

Total,  .  .  .  1,082,880.00 

Surplus  after  paying  all  interests,       ....  $478,403.59 

The  earnings  for  the  first  half  of  the  financial  year  were  so  large 
that  the  Company  reduced  their  charges  twenty-five  per  cent.  If 
the  way  or  local  business  produces  such  results,  what  may  we  expect 
from  the  traffic  that  must  pass  over  it  from  the  two  sides  of  the 
whole  North  American  continent  ? 


\ 


36 


ss^$<^r 

™ev^m^» 


THEIR   SECURITY   AND  VALUE. 

As  before  stated,  the  Union  Pacific  Eailroad  Company  are  au 
thorized  by  Congress  to  issue  their  First  Mortgage  Bonds  in  the 
same  amounts  as  are  issued  by  the  Government  to  the  Company  on 
the  various  sections  of  the  road  as  they  are  completed,  viz. : 

On  the  first  517  miles  at  $16,000  per  mile,    .  .  .      $8,272,000 

On  the  Rocky  Mountain  region,  150  miles,  at  $48,000  per  mile,  7,200,000 

On  433  additional  miles  at  $32,000  per  mile,  .  .  .      13,856,000 

Total  for  1,100  miles, $29,328,000 

All  these  bonds  are  for  $1,000  each,  and  have  coupons  attached. 
They  have  thirty  years  to  run,  and  bear  interest  at  the  rate  of  six 
per  cent,  per  annum  in  gold,  payable  on  the  first  days  of  January 
and  July,  at  the  Company's  offices  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

PRINCIPAL   AS  WELL   AS   INTEREST   PAYABLE   IN   GOLD. 

"While  the  Company  have  never  supposed  that  the  principal  of 
their  bonds  would  be  paid  otherwise  than  in  gold,  yet,  to  put  all 
question  on  this  subject  at  rest,  at  a  meeting  of  the  directors  held 
on  the  12th  of  March,  1868,  it  was  unanimously 


That  the  President  and  Treasurer  are  authorized  and  directed  to 
enter  into  a  covenant  with  the  Trustees  of  the  First  Mortgage  Bonds  of  this  Com 
pany,  to  pay  the  principal  of  said  Bonds,  at  maturity,  in  United  States  gold  coin. 

In  accordance  with  this  resolution,  the  President  and  Treasurer 
made  the  following 


37 


§tt0W  tttt  P*tt  ItJJ  tte*  gWStfttttf,  tfia;  TFteran,  the  Union  Pacific  Rail 
road  Company  heretofore  executed  to  EDWIN  D.  MORGAN  and  OAKES  AMES, 
Trustees,  a  certain  Indenture  of  Mortgage  bearing  date  the  first  day  of  November, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-five,  mortgaging  thereby  the  railroad  of  the 
said  Company  to  the  said  Trustees  to  secure  the  payment  of  the  said  Company's  First 
Mortgage  Bonds,  and  the  said  Indenture  of  Mortgage  was  duly  recorded  ;  And  whereas, 
the  said  Company  have  issued  divers  of  the  said  first  mortgage  bonds,  and  intend  here 
after  to  issue  divers  others  of  said  First  Mortgage  Bonds  mentioned  in  and  provided 
for  by  the  said  indenture  of  mortgage  ;  And  whereas,  by  the  tenor  of  said  bonds  the 
principal  sum  payable  thereon  at  maturity  is  to  be  paid  in  lawful  money  of  the  United 
States;  Now,  in  consideration  of  the  premises,  and  of  one  dollar  to  the  said  Company 
in  hand  paid,  the  receipt  whereof  is  hereby  acknowledged,  and  for  divers  other  good 
and  valuable  considerations  the  said  Company  thereunto  moving,  the  said  Company 
hereby  covenant  and  agree  to  and  with  the  said  EDWIN  D.  MORGAN  and  OAKES  AMES, 
as  Trustees,  for  the  benefit  of  all  who  are  or  shall  be  holders  of  said  bonds,  and  to 
and  with  the  successors  of  said  Trustees  in  the  trust  created  by  the  said  Indenture 
of  Mortgage,  that  the  principal  of  all  the  said  First  Mortgage  Bonds,  being  one  thou 
sand  dollars  each,  as  well  such  as  have  been  issued  hitherto  as  such  as  shall  be  issued 
hereafter,  shall  and  will  be  paid  by  the  said  Company  whensoever  the  same  respect 
ively  become  payable  according  to  the  tenor  thereof,  in  the  gold  coin  of  the  United 
States  at  par,  that  is  to  say,  one  thousand  dollars  of  such  coin  for  each  of  the  said 
bonds. 

git  fitness  £3l)ercof,  the  said  Company  have  caused  these  presents  to  be  sealed 
with  their  corporate  seal,  and  to  be  subscribed  by  their  President  and  Treasurer,  this 
twelfth  day  of  March,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-eight. 

Sealed  and  delivered  in  \  OLIVER  AMES,  President. 

.  HAM.  f  ™HN  J.  CISCO,  Treasurer. 


It  will  be  noticed,  that  this  covenant  applies  to  all  the  First 
Mortgage  Bonds  of  the  Company  without  exception,  including 
those  that  have  been  heretofore  issued,  as  well  as  those  which  may 
be  issued  hereafter.  We  now  come  to  the  first  question  which  will 
be  asked  by  every  investor,  viz. : 

ARE   THE   BONDS   SECURE  ? 

Ans. :  Congress  has  taken  an  especial  care  that  the  interests  of 
the  bondholders  of  this  road  shall  be  secured,  that  has  never  before 
been  shown  towards  a  similar  enterprise.  The  Mortgage  is  made  to 
Hon.  E.  D.  MORGAN,  U.  S.  Senator  from  New  York,  and  Hon. 
OAKES  AMES,  Member  of  U.  S.  House  of  Eepresentatives  from 
Massachusetts,  who  alone  can  deliver  the  bonds  to  the  Company, 


38 

and  who  are  responsible  for  their  delivery  in  strict  accordance  with 
the  terms  of  the  law. 

The  President  of  the  United  States  appoints  Five  Government 
Directors  who  cannot  be  stockholders,  who  take  part  in  the  direc 
tion  of  all  its  affairs,  and  one  of  whom  is  to  be  on  every  Committee 
of  the  Company.  It  is  the  duty  of  these  directors  to  see  that  all  the 
business  of  the  Company  is  properly  managed,  and  to  report  the 
same  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  who  reports,  through  the 
President,  to  Congress. 

The  President  of  the  United  States  also  appoints  three  Commis 
sioners  to  inspect  the  work  as  it  progresses,  in  sections  of  twenty 
miles,  to  see  that  it  is  in  all  respects  a  first-class  road,  and  that  it  is 
suitably  provided  with  depots,  stations,  &c.,  and  all  the  rolling  stock 
necessary  for  its  business.  The  U.  S.  Bonds  are  issued  to  the  Com 
pany  only  as  each  section  of  twenty  miles  is  accepted  by  the  U.  S. 
Commissioners,  and  the  trustees  of  the  first  mortgage  bondholders 
deliver  the  Company's  own  First  Mortgage  Bonds  to  the  Company 
only  on  the  same  conditions,  except  that  the  Company  are  permitted 
to  issue  their  bonds  for  one  hundred  miles  in  advance  of  the  com 
pleted  line,  to  cover  a  part  of  the  cost  of  grading,  &c. 

To  give  every  facility  for  the  negotiation  of  the  Company's  First 
Mortgage  Bonds,  the  Government  makes  its  own  bonds  issued  to 
the  Company  a  second  lien,  and  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  is,  in  fact,  a  Government  work,  built  under  the 
supervision  of  Government  officers,  and  to  a  large  extent  with 
Government  money.  We  may  say,  without  danger  of  contradiction, 
that  no  bonds  issued  by  any  other  company  in  this  country,  or,  so  far 
as  we  know,  in  the  world,  are  made  so  secure  by  a  responsible  Govern 
ment,  as  the  First  Mortgage  Bonds  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
Company.  They  are  not  only  a  first  mortgage  upon  a  property  that 
costs  three  times  their  amount,  but  upon  a  property  of  daily  increas 
ing  value,  and  whose  income  is  already  much  more  than  their  in 
terest.  First  mortgage  bonds,  whose  principal  is  so  thoroughly 
secured,  and  whose  interest  is  so  liberal  and  so  amply  provided  for, 
must  be  classed  among  the  very  safest  and  best  securities. 

A    PERMANENT   VALUE. 

The  recent  movements  in  Congress  in  favor  of  redeeming  the 
Government  bonds  in  currency,  or  taxing  them  directly  or  indirectly 
so  as  to  reduce  the  rate  of  interest,  and  practically  compel  the 


39 

holders  to  fund  them  at  4  or  4J  per  cent.,  have  induced  many 
careful  investors  to  exchange  their  Government  securities,  as  a 
whole  or  in  parta  for  Union  Pacific  First  Mortgage  Bonds.  There 
are  others  who  always  prefer  a  first  mortgage  upon  such  a  great, 
valuable,  and  productive  real  estate,  to  the  obligations  of  any 
state  or  nation,  which  are  subject  to  the  vicissitudes  of  political 
action. 

WHAT   AEE   THEY   WOKTH   AS   AN   INVESTMENT  ? 

Ans.  :  Other  conditions  being  the  same,  securities  are  valuable 
according  to  their  rate  of  interest.  The  recent  average  quotations 
for  U.  S.  10-40  bonds,  bearing  only  5  per  cent,  gold  interest,  redeem 
able  by  the  government  in  six  years,  have  been  105  to  106,  and 
the  U.  S.  sixes  of  '81,  gold  six  per  cents  which  may  be  redeemed 
in  thirteen  years,  have  been  at  from  113  to  115  J.  The  best  first  mort 
gage  six  per  cent,  railroad  currency  bonds  range  at  about  par,  and 
the  seven  per  cents  run  to  a  considerable  premium,  while  the  Union 
Pacific  First  Mortgage  Bonds  are  sure  to  pay  six  per  cent,  in  gold, 
which,  with  the  premium  at  40,  (where  it  has  stood  upon  the  aver 
age  for  about  three  years,)  pay  8|  per  cent. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  a  very  important  consideration  in  deter 
mining  the  value  of  these  bonds  is  the  length  of  time  they  have  to 
run. 

It  is  safe  to  assume,  that  during  the  next  thirty  years,  the 
rate  of  interest  in  the  United  States  will  decline  as  it  has  done  in  the 
old  countries  of  Europe,  and  we  have  a  right  to  expect  that  such  six 
per  cent,  securities  as  these  will  be  held  at  as  high  a  premium  as 
those  of  this  Government,  which,  in  1857,  were  bought  in  at  from 
20  to  23  per  cent,  above  par. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Union  Pacific  Bonds  will  become  a 
favorite  investment  abroad,  for  although  the  Company  have  made 
no  effort  to  sell  them,  except  at  home,  considerable  amounts  have 
been  voluntarily  taken  on  foreign  account,  and  it  is  probable,  that 
as  soon  as  the  road  is  completed,  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
whole  amount  will  be  taken  out  of  the  country. 

It  should  be  remembered,  that  the  whole  issue  of  these  bonds 
will  be  only  about  thirty  million  dollars,  of  which  over  eighteen 
millions  have  already  been  sold ;  and  while  subscriptions  are  now 
received  at  102,  it  is  expected  that,  with  a  favorable  money  market, 
the  price  may  be  further  advanced  at  an  early  day. 


40 

In  addition  to  their  safety  and  profit,  these  bonds  offer  every  con- 
yenience  of  a  convertible  investment.  The  gold  coupons  will  be 
cashed  by  bankers  in  any  part  of  the  country,  and  the  bonds 
themselves  are  taken  as  security  for  loans  at  the  lowest  current  rates. 

Full  particulars  in  relation  to  terms,  agents,  and  means  of  sub 
scribing  may  be  found  in  the  advertisement  on  the  last  page  of  the 
cover. 

NEW  YORK,  Sept.  20th,  1868. 

JOHN  J.  CISCO,  TREASURER, 

Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company. 


Union  Pacific  Railroad  Co. 


OFFER   A   LIMITED    AMOUNT    OF    THEIR 

FIRST  MORTGAGE  BONDS 

AT  102,  PRINCIPAL  AND  INTEREST 
t 

PAYABLE   IN    GOLD. 

These  Bonds  are  for  $1,000  each,  and  have  Coupons  attached.  They  have  thirty 
years  to  run,  and  bear  annual  interest,  payable  on  the  lirst  days  of  January  and  July 
at  the  Company's  Ofliee  in  the  City  of  New  York,  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent, 
in  gold. 

At   the   present  rate  of  premium  on  gold,  they   pay  an   annual  "  'come  on   their 
cost  of 

BETWEEN  EIGHT  AND  NINE  PEh 

The  Company  reserve  the  right  to  advance  the  price  of  their  bonds  to  a  higher 
rate  at  any  time,  and  will  not  be  h olden  to  fill  any  orders  or  receive  any  subscrip 
tions  on  which  the  money  has  not  been  actually  paid  at  the  Company's  office  before 
the  time  of  such  advance. 

Parties  subscribing  will  remit  the  priee  of  the  bonds  and  the  accrued  interest  in 
currency  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent,  per  annum,  from  July  1st,  1808.  Subscriptions 
will  be  received  in  New  York  at 

THE  COMPANY'S  OFFICE,  No.  20  Nassau  Street, 

AND    BY- 
JOHN  J.  CISCO  &  SON,  Bankers,  No.  59  Wall  Street, 

AND    BY   THE 

Company's  Advertised  Agents  throughout  the  United  States. 

Remittances  sliould  be  made  in,  drafts  or  officer  funds  2**r  '^n  -^e>0  York,  and  the  Bonds 
mill  be  Kent  free  of  charge  by  return  express.  Parties  subscribing  through  local  agents,  will 
look  to  them  for  their  safe  delivery. 

JOHN  J.  CISCO,   Treasurer. 

NEW  YORK,  SEPTEMBEH  14,  1868. 


